


Picture Perfect

by LittleBubbleStyles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anxiety, Assistant Zayn Malik, Bottom Harry, Brief mention of unconsented sexual interaction (idk how to tag this), Chelsea football, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Football Player Liam, Football Player Louis, Football | Soccer Player Louis Tomlinson, Harry has anxiety issues, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Louis and Harry go through a lot, Louis has anger issues, Louis is misunderstood a lot, Love/Hate, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Mpreg Harry, Past Relationship(s), Photographer Harry, Protective Louis Tomlinson, Sensitive talk, Slow Burn, Top Louis Tomlinson, Unrequited Love, Weddings, cute pictures are included, instagram posts, larry stylinson - Freeform, long fic, long story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:42:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 46
Words: 349,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBubbleStyles/pseuds/LittleBubbleStyles
Summary: an AU where Louis Tomlinson is a misunderstood football player, and Harry Styles is a misunderstood photographer. Somehow, they're understood together.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 141
Kudos: 303





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. This is actually one of the first stories I have ever written back on Wattpad so I thought I would share it with all of you. Currently, it is undergoing major editing so I will be uploading here once the chapters are all ready. The story is completed. If any of you want to check it out on Wattpad then head on over there. I have the exact same username as I do on here, but Wattpad has the unedited version. 
> 
> Enjoy xx

**_Alan Carr:_ ** _Welcome back to Alan Carr: Chatty Man, I'm Alan Carr, and right now I have the famous Louis Tomlinson sitting here with me today. So Louis, here we are with you two years after your first debut on the England Olympic Team. At the time you were just stepping foot into the football world, and I remember how nervous you felt. But man, look at you now. No longer that scared seventeen year old anymore. You're now on your way to becoming the best forward Chelsea and all of England has ever seen._

**_Louis:_ ** _Well, it does take a lot of work to get to where I am today, so it's really no surprise._

_**Alan Carr:** Give yourself some credit, though. You're only nineteen years old, and you're in the talks to becoming the next team captain for Chelsea. You're so young, but you're so talented at what you do_ _._

**_Louis:_ ** _Now c'mon, you're just making me blush._

**_Alan Carr:_ ** _I mean, who do you celebrate this with? I bet all your friends and family are just so proud of your success in such a shot amount of time._

**_Louis:_ ** _...I mean, yeah - um - it's definitely great to be surrounded by people who support me. Especially my friends who help push me everyday. It's uh - It's great, but you also don't get to where you are without some sort of dedication, so a lot of my free time had been spent on myself and on my game. It's my main priority._

The telly turns off the minute Harry's eyes open from the bright sun casting rays through the curtains. He hates that he fell asleep the night prior to the television still on because it just means having a restless wake up. Harry wants to snooze some more, and taking the energy to open his eyes, find the remote, and turn the TV off is not a part of his plan, but, he already turned it off so he lays back down and slowly closes his eyes again, hoping to get a couple more minutes of sleep before he needs to get up for school.

The first week of September came faster than Harry had wanted it to. He swore it was just the start of summer last week, but then within a blink of an eye, school is starting back up again. And it's not like Harry technically dreads going to school. He actually loves to learn, but the issue with _this schoo_ l is that Harry isn't the most liked amongst his classmates. He is the only sixteen year old in their final year at Collingham College, and people tend to find it quite strange that someone from the year below is actually graduating with their class. Harry didn't care about that, per say, he is more than excited to be graduating and leaving behind this part of his life, but he still has these two final terms before he can even think of walking across that stage and saying goodbye to nearly everyone at this school.

His mother chose Collingham for Harry when before they moved to London because she thought it properly suited his academics. This college is known to be one of the top colleges in all of London, and only those who qualify can apply and be accepted. Harry was admitted within a week of his application, and he was so far ahead in his studies that the headmaster of the school suggested Harry jumped a grade than the one he was supposed to be in. So really, it's Harry's smart brain that got him in a year above his own. And ever since going there, Harry's greatest successes at Collingham came with his photography skills. Harry realized that expressing his feelings with words has never been one his best features, but whenever he hid behind a camera and captured the art that reflected how he felt, he realized how therapeutic it was. His skills got better as his years with Collingham grew, and through this time, he won various awards with different art exhibitions that the art program has been a part of. Harry's known as one of the best photographers on campus, and that is a title he wore proudly everyday.

"Harry," Anne suddenly calls from downstairs, causing a groan to grumble deep from Harry's throat. "You need to hurry up. I don't want you late for school."

Harry buries his head deep into his pillow for a few more seconds in protest before he is chunking it across his bed. He turns to lay on his back so he can stare up at the ceiling when the sudden smell of bacon makes it way into his room. Harry's nose scrunches, and he turns on to his side to let out a dramatic sigh at the thought of his mother finally having enough care in the world to prepare him breakfast before school.

 _It has been years_ , Harry thinks to himself.

Harry doesn't mean that in the wrong way, he knows he is loved by his mother, if anything, he doesn't necessarily know what it was that drove a wedge between his relationship with his mother. All he knows is that ever since they moved down to London, they haven't been the same. The fall to their relationship started back in Cheshire where they used to live. Harry had just came out to his parents, who seemed to not have _that_ big of a problem with it, and then his coming out was abruptly announced to his class mates. Then it was Harry who ended up getting teased and picked on by the students almost everyday while Anne had to take the brunt of it all from the people in town. Harry still doesn't know who outed him to the whole school, but ever since that traitorous day in Cheshire, nothing has been the same between him and his mother.

Harry finally drags himself out of his bed when he gets enough energy to do so and heads into the washroom to freshen himself up. He likes to stick to a routine when it comes to his mornings before school simply because it's one of the only things he has full control over in his life. He likes to start with a morning shower, lathering up his body with a coconut milk wash and massaging his hair with a fruity scented shampoo and conditioner - sometimes, if he's feeling extra, he likes to finish the shower with a sugar scrub to make his skin extra soft. Then when he finishes, he wraps his lower body in a towel and wraps another around his hair. He walks over to his bathroom counter, brushes his teeth, and pulls open the draw to grab his nail polish remover. Removing his nail polish in the morning is a _must_ Harry never forgets, and he hates how he feel obligated to never wear painted nails out in public.

Harry knows he needs to be more confident in himself and should embrace every aspect of his life, but there are some things that he needs to take time with. He already gets teased for the way he dresses, which is apparently too girly for most boys his age. He likes brighter clothing and favors the color pink, and he never thought anything wrong with it until he heard the first snickering sounds of people making fun of him. So, wearing nail polish is something he needs to build up to. He likes to paint his nails though. Every day, after school, Harry grabs whatever color he is feeling and begins to coat each nail with precise care. It's another one of his therapeutic things he does in order to calm himself down, and it's something he genuinely enjoys doing. The worst part is having to wipe all the polish away the next morning, but there will be one day when he isn't so scared of wearing it outside his own home.

Once Harry is done in the bathroom, he tosses his towels off to the side and walks naked back into his room. Since theres no reason to hide his taste for clothing, he still picks out what he likes to wear. Today, he settles for black skinnies, a baby blue pull over, and a pair of black boots. _It's moderate_ , he thinks to himself. There's nothing too flashy about the colors, and it's an outfit he has worn before so he knew he wasn't going too overboard with his clothes. Harry ends up standing in his closet for another few minutes just staring at his reflection in the mirror. He doesn't realize how long he is there until he hears his mother calling out his name again to get him to move quicker.

Harry blows air past his nose and finally makes his way downstairs.

"Running late?" Anne asks with a small smile once Harry walks into the kitchen, laying down a plate of food at the table for Harry.

"Yeah, sorry mum."

Anne walks over to Harry and gives him a quick kiss to his forehead before she is making her way out of the room. Harry lets out a sigh as he grabs a piece of bacon, staring at his mom's fleeting figure and wondering if there will ever be a time when Anne will join him for breakfast again.

**//**

"So, what classes do you have?" Harry asks the second he sees Niall in the hallway of their school.

Niall furrows his eyebrows together and begins to read off his schedule for Harry.

Harry and Niall have been friends since Niall moved to London in Year ten. Harry had just moved into town the year before so it was a relief for Harry to finally find a friend that was relatively new like he was. Of course, Niall was able to make more friends outside of his relationship with Harry, but he always put Harry above anyone else so Harry was more than grateful he had a friend like Niall. They've been together since the start, and Niall's been Harry's only friend at Collingham so they really have been by each other's side for years. It was a serious of unfortunate events that led to their friendship. They both had the same science class together, and the day the professor asked people to partner up for a class project was the same day that Harry and Niall found each other.

Ever since then, their friendship flourished.

"We have English and Photography together," Niall mutters under his breath, double checking the classes one more time before he catches something that makes him smile. "Oh, and we have lunch together. Perfect."

"That's great," Harry relieves a breath, silently thanking the gods that he doesn't have to eat lunch by himself. Thats how it was last year, and he always resorted to hiding out in the boy's locker room to eat his food so he wouldn't embarrassingly sit by himself in the cafe.

"Hey, have you heard about the new internship Mr. T is setting up?" Harry then questions as they make their way to the lockers. They were only a few lockers apart, but they were still close enough that they could see and talk to one another.

"No, I haven't seen it. Do you know what it's about?"

Harry shrugs his shoulders, grabbing a couple of folders out before shoving his backpack inside his locker. "No, idea, but the rumors are its a one in a life time opportunity."

Niall lets out a thoughtful grunt and continues to switch out his belongings for his classes. Harry finishes before him so he closes his locker door and ends up leaning his back against it. He waits patiently for Niall to grab his stuff while he looks around the hallway, noticing all the different students who are happy to reunite with their friends. It makes Harry smile, but when his eyes land upon someone who makes the hair on his arms stand up, he suddenly feels frozen in his spot.

_Tanner Greason._

"Hey just ignore him, mate," Niall cuts into Harry's line of vision, waving his hand in front of Harry's face to get him to focus on him rather than Tanner. "He's not worth it, yeah?"

Harry lets out a sigh and glances at Niall, giving him a wary smile before he is looping his arm through Niall's to walk them down the other way towards their English class, opposite to where Tanner is standing.

Harry makes it through the first half of the day without any issues. His first class is English with Niall so he gets to start the day with his friend, which is a highlight to Harry's morning. The next few classes he is alone, and then he has lunch with Niall. The two of them sit with a few of Niall's friends, and it's one of the first times Harry actually has people to sit with at lunch. Then the class directly after lunch is French, and unfortunately, right when Harry thinks he has a decent class schedule for this term, he sees Tanner Greason sitting in the back of this class with a small smirk on his face. Harry is thankful enough that he likes to sit in the front of the class. He knows he'll most likely never interact with the boy since Tanner is a back of the classroom kind of guy. Luckily, after French, Harry doesn't encounter Tanner again, and the last class on Harry's schedule is another one he has with Niall - his favorite class ever - Photography with Mr. T.

"Hey, Hazza," Niall greets once Harry comes to sit in the open desk next to him. He turns his body to face Harry and smiles. "How was your day so far?"

"The fact that I only have one class with Tanner should be a relief," Harry breathes out dramatically.

"Which one?" Niall grimaces.

"French."

Their conversation is stopped when Mr. T makes his appearance known to the classroom. He walks in with a big, grand gesture and introduces himself to the same students he's had since they first arrived at Collingham. This class is his advanced one, and since these students have been in the photography program for a couple of years, they all get the opportunity to shadow different photographers, go on trips, make the year book, present photos at auctions, and do a lot more than someone in their first year at Collingham get to do. Harry is more than excited to see what new things he'll get to accomplish this year with photography.

Since it's the first day, Mr. T didn't have much planned other than passing out the application and contract each student has to fill out. There is a paragraph on the paper that mentions some of the opportunities Mr. T will be presenting to the class so Harry begins reading each line to see what the whole thing is about. Harry knows he'll jump on any opportunity that will help further his photography career, and Mr.T is one of the best men out there who can lead Harry to success in this career field. Harry gets about halfway through the paper when he suddenly hears people behind him giggling. He tries to ignore it and focus on reading the material on the application, but with their insistent need to talk so loudly behind Harry that gets him distracted, he finds himself starting to listen in on what they have to say instead of minding his own business.

_"Jesus, I watched his interview. He is such a twat."_

_"Okay, but he's so fucking hot, Sarah."_

_"Oh god, the things I'd let that boy do to me."_

_"Jane, don't be horny. Did you not see him get thrown out a bar for punching someone?"_

_"Who wants to be with a hot guy if he's such an asshole? Not me, I have respect for myself, Kevin."_

_"I don't care what any of you have to say. Tomlinson is a good ass football player."_

Harry jumps when the final bell for the school day rings. He stops listening to the people behind him and quickly busies himself by stuffing his papers inside his folder. He gets up from his desk and moves to start following Niall out the classroom, but Mr. T is calling Harry back to his desk. Harry gives Niall a weak smile before Niall is heading out and Harry is walking over to Mr. T. He stands at his professor's desk and patiently waits on what he has to say.

"So you're aware of the internships I offer my students once they reach the masters level in this class?" Mr. T questions, waiting for Harry to nod his head in response. "Well, I have a new one this year that I think might be in your best interest. I remember you filling out that you like doing sports photography?"

"Yes, I love it," Harry smiles, chewing on his bottom lip in excitement.

"Well, the head photographer for the Chelsea football club asked me if I would hold an internship with him. The reason why this is a great opportunity is because you get an all inclusive access to practices and games. You get to take pictures of everything they do and have them uploaded to their website with your name tagged along. Matthew, the guy who works there, told me he wanted my best options to be sent his way, and you were my first choice."

Harry gawks for a moment, opening and closing his mouth and letting out choked sounds before he finally closes his lips and spreads them into a smile. "This is amazing," he settles with. "Thank you so much for thinking of me."

Mr. T nods his head and scoots his desk chair back a little. He opens a draw from his desk and ends up pulling a flyer out with all the information about the internship. He hands it over to Harry with a bright smile.

"It's an application and interview process. I have a couple applicants who will also be applying for the job, but Matt would like to meet everyone, give a tour of the place, explain what he does, look over the applications, and then hold a one on one interview session before he chooses. I already talked you up since you are my best student, but I do think this is a great opportunity for you moving forward."

"Wow," Harry exclaims again, grabbing on to the paper and holding it close to his chest. "Thank you so much."

"First meeting is Thursday. Good luck, Harry."

//

It was like Thursday couldn't come any faster.

Since Mr. T. informed Harry of this potential position of interning with a sports photographer, it is all Harry could think of. Of course his excitement for the opportunity was not replicated on his mother whenever he showed her the flyer, but she still congratulated him for being a top candidate. Harry really shouldn't have expected any more or less from his mother. Anne has never been on board with the photography thing for Harry. She supported him at first when it was a hobby Harry liked doing, but when Harry began expressing his desire to turn photography into a career, she became hesitant about the idea. She always saw big things for Harry in his future, and being a photographer never seemed to be on the listing.

"Alright, everyone, my name is Matt."

Harry looks up when a man finally approaches where he and the other two applicants were sitting. Niall and another student, Jake, were able to tag along as well because they were taking pictures for the year book so Harry is pretty grateful he has a friend with him to keep him from freaking out. The man, Matthew, walks down the steps of the bleacher section the five students are sitting in and makes his way to the bottom. He turns around with a bright smile and rests his body against the railing, glancing up at the lot of them. "So, I am the head photographer for Chelsea, and today I just wanted to give a run down of everything that I do, what i expect you guys to do, and then give a tour. How does that sound?"

There is an echo of cheers coursing through all the students before Matt is leading the way. He gives the tour as he talks, taking them to all the different places around the arena. Niall and the others pretty much gawk at everything they are shown while Harry just casually listens in on everything. At one point, Matt leads them down the steps to show them the football pitch. This is when all the students get the most excited, and this is also where Niall gets the brilliant idea of exploring on his own. He ends up grabbing Harry's arm and yanks them the opposite way of Matt and the group to head towards the tunnels. Harry huffs when his body gets dragged into the darkness of the tunnels, and he frowns when he realizes it's hard to see anything once their inside it.

"Do you think any of the players are here?" Niall whispers quietly, walking deeper into the tunnel and letting out a gasp when he catches a door thats named _locker room_. "Oh, wow," he mutters breathlessly, touching the letters engraved on the door.

"I don't know what football player would like to come on their off day to see a bunch of photographers."

"Dude, what if we see Tomlinson?" Niall then questions, turning around abruptly and holding on to Harry's shoulders.

"Okay, who's that?" Harry frowns.

Niall snorts in response and lets go of Harry. He walks past the boy and starts heading towards the end of the tunnel to just stare out onto the open pitch. Harry follows up behind him and leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and noticing that Matt and the rest of the students are no where to be found.

 _Great_ , Harry thinks.

"Dude, your lack of knowledge in football is really baffling - oh, hey, look a football."

Niall jumps from the tunnel and runs straight towards the ball off to the side. Harry doesn't even attempt to stop Niall when he goes. He just remains in his spot and giggles when Niall begins kicking the ball around like he has no care in the world. Harry shakes his head and leans a little bit out the tunnel so he can survey the area around them to make sure Matt wouldn't catch them breaking any rules.

"Niall you're going to get us in trouble," Harry whisper-shouts.

Niall shrugs his shoulders and continues to kick the ball around like a free, rebellious bird. Harry rolls his eyes, but he continues giggling under his breath. He remains hidden in the tunnel while he continues to watch Niall be reckless on the field for what feels like hours, and he knows he should probably try to find Matt and the rest of the group before they get caught, but something about standing in the tunnel laughing at Niall sounded like a better idea.

"Who the hell are you?"

Harry jumps at the sudden voice behind him and turns around in a hasty motion. His eyes widen when they fall on the man who scared him, feeling his breath get caught in his throat when he notices how beautiful this stranger looks, which is an odd thing to think when getting caught. The stranger is average height, just barely a couple inches taller than Harry, but he is built and fit - Harry notices his thick leg muscles and strong biceps. The stranger's skin is a golden tan, and his eyes a piercing blue color that are currently eyeing Harry up and down like he's judging Harry's presence. His brown hair looks feathery soft, laying across his forehead swiftly and sticking to his prickly skin, which does look smooth and soft.

Harry gulps when he realizes he had been blatantly staring at the man and quickly looks away to hide the embarrassment he feels flushing up his neck.

" _Um_ -" Harry stutters, looking back into those beautiful blue eyes and feeling a shiver of nerves run down his spine. Harry gulps again, quickly tucking loose strands of hair behind his ear so he has something distracting to do.

"Cat caught your tongue?"

Harry tilts his head to the side and lets out a shaky breath. He notices the stranger take a step closer to him that causes Harry to take one back. The man's eyes harden from where they are staring so harshly at Harry's face, and Harry has no idea what to do other than to _try_ to calm his breathing down.

"How old are you?" The man then asks, surveying Harry's face again as if it would give him the answer.

"Sixteen."

After a moments pause, the stranger raises an eyebrow, seemingly expecting something that Harry was obliviously not providing. "Aren't you going to ask how old I am?" he questions after a couple of seconds of silence.

"W-well, _um_ -," Harry begins, nervously chewing on his bottom lip before he is able to find words again. "T-that would mean that I wanted to know."

The stranger lets out a snort, rolling his eyes as he takes another step closer to Harry. "Do you not know who I am?" He questions harshly.

"Am I supposed to?"

"Why are you so shy?" The guy narrows his eyes at Harry again, and he begins slowly dragging his eyes down Harry's body.

Harry tries not to twitch with those blue eyes taking in every feature of his body, probably judging Harry with what he is wearing. Harry really tries to ignore it in favor of twiddling with his fingers, but when he sees this man's eyes stay locked in on the pink blouse that Harry is wearing, it is hard for him to not feel anxious.

"I'm not," Harry finally speaks.

"Yes, you are," the stranger accuses, stepping closer to Harry to where there is barely an inch of space between them. "You're not making eye contact with me, and you're playing with your fingers."

Harry pouts his lips at being caught and finally looks up at him. "Why do you care?"

"Are you implying that I care about you?" Blue eyes smiles teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

"I - I - _Uh_ \- It was j-just a question."

"You think because someone like me, asks a question about someone like you, that I automatically just care about you?"

"No."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

Harry's cheeks begin heating up in a hot blush when this stranger doesn't back down. He lets out a shaky breath and finally takes a small step back to put some distance between the two of them, but all he sees is the man curving his lips into a devilish looking smirk.

"You're being a - a butthead," Harry calls out, wincing at his own choice of words. Screw him for not being one to cuss.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Harry huffs out in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes.

"No, I'm being a _dick head_ _,_ " the guy corrects with a small laugh.

"Exactly," Harry agrees.

"Exactly what?"

"You're being that."

"Being - What?" The guy challenges, his smile continuing to grow when he realizes how flustered Harry is getting.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I wanna hear you say it, _love_."

Harry scoffs at the word and finally loosens his body up. He looks at the stranger in front of him and ignores all the cues in his mind that's telling him this man is beautiful and instead reminding his own brain that this stranger is in fact rude. Harry takes another step back and doesn't bother saying a goodbye as he begins walking out on the pitch to join Niall. He's had enough of this stranger already, and he really wasn't in the mood to let this man continue to pester him just for the sake of his own amusement.

Just as Harry is making his way out the tunnel, the stranger calls out, "I'll be seeing you curly," before he turns around to disappear.

 _Pft, yeah right_ _,_ Harry thinks to himself, rolling his eyes and running to catch up with Niall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think so far?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We see a little bit of Louis' POV in this chapter.

The first week of school flies by quicker than Harry anticipates it to, and on Saturday, he ends up getting in early to the bakery he works part time at. The bakery is in the heart of London, right across from Hyde Park so it normally gets a good rush in whenever there are people who spend their day at the park. Harry has the early shift on this Saturday, and he knows he will not get off until around the afternoon time. Normally, Saturdays are the busiest days when there is a football game in town because more often than not, the visiting team likes to order a bunch of to-go pastries and coffee. So Harry spends nearly half his morning filling out those orders before he gets to mend the register at around nine, thats when the normal crowd of people start to come in. Today, though, is different. Instead of Chelsea playing a game with an away team, they're hosting some sort of event at Stamford Bridge. Harry remembers Niall going on and on about it the night prior, but Harry was half heartedly listening while he was focusing more on his camera settings. 

"It's an inner squad," Niall repeats for what feels like the umpteenth time that morning, continuing the conversation the two were having the night prior. 

Harry frowns, spraying the counter and wiping it lazily. "What the heck is that?"

"Chelsea is splitting their team into two separate teams and playing against one another," Niall explains with a dramatic huff. "It's their blue and white charity event."

"Sounds boring," Harry notes. 

Niall rolls his eyes and reaches across to playfully ruffle up Harry's hair. Harry groans when his curls fly over his face so he swats Niall's hand away as Niall begins laughing his way towards the loo. Harry shakes his head fondly at his friend before he bends down to put the cleaning supplies in the cabinet. When he stands back up, the door to the shop chimes, causing Harry's eyes to flick over to the customer that had just entered the shop. Harry groans immediately upon seeing the blue eyed boy. 

"Curly, how nice to see you again."

Harry lets out a huff as he places his palms on top of the counter. He eyes the stranger while he happily bounds over to the register. He has a friend with him this time who stands off to the side with a phone in his hand. The stranger, however, makes his effort to get in front of Harry. Harry raises his eyebrow. 

"What do you want?" Harry grumbles tiredly.

"To order," the man grins, licking his lips and preening when Harry rolls his eyes. "I can do that, right?"

"Okay, get on with it then," Harry rushes impatiently. He reaches over and grabs his order sheet and waits for the boy to tell him what he wants. 

It takes a minute for the blue eyed boy to actually say what he wants, It seems like he's more keen on testing Harry's patience by reading off every single thing on the menu like Harry doesn't already know what they sell. His blue eyes drag across every word with a hum, his hand coming up to stroke his chin and looking curiously at all the options available. Harry begins tapping his foot on the ground, impatiently, widening his eyes when he realizes this guy wants to purposely annoy him again - like, _damn,_ it's a bakery. They have such a small menu, and Harry knows it shouldn't take someone this long to order something. 

"Any day now," Harry finally snarls.

The man drags his blue eyes over to Harry and smirks. "A tea, plain, and maybe one of those good looking muffins you have there."

Harry lets out a sigh once the man finally orders and turns to get everything ready. He begins setting up the tea machine and allows it to warm up while he grabs a fresh muffin from the display case. He packs the muffin in the box and goes back to the tea machine to set up the settings for it to brew. In the mean time, Harry starts to hear movement behind him before there's a conversation sparking between the stranger and somebody else, something Harry can't help but listen in on. 

"Oh wow, can I have your autograph?" Harry hears a girl ask the blue eyed boy, causing Harry to scoff and roll his eyes. 

_Seriously, who is this guy?_ Harry thinks to himself, shaking his head at the thought of someone stupidly asking for this stranger's autograph. 

"Sure, dear."

"Thanks so much. Good luck today." 

The tea finally finishes brewing, and Harry returns to the stranger with his to-go cup and muffin. Harry catches the last bit of interaction the stranger was having with some little girl, and he raises his eyebrow when he sees the two of them fist bump. However, once the stranger is done signing a piece of paper for her, he stands back up and walks to the register again. 

"Care for an autograph too, love?" 

"I care not," Harry snaps, ringing up the order so his interaction with this man can move along quicker. 

"Why must you be so mean to me?" The stranger pouts dramatically, handing Harry a big wad of money. Harry raises his eyebrows at the amount he receives and realizes that the stranger definitely over paid him. "I'm just trying to get your name and maybe number." 

"You get neither," Harry stubbornly replies. "You're not someone I care to be around, truthfully."

"How very dare you," The stranger laughs, looking the least bit offended. If anything, he begins smiling brightly. "I will prove to you otherwise."

"You have yet to change my mind," Harry sighs. "Here's your change," Harry then says. He tries giving some of the money back the stranger had paid him, but instead, the blue eyed boy leans forward and closes Harry's finger around the money. He then keeps his hand around Harry's and looks over at him, his solid blue eyes staring so prominently back at Harry's green ones. 

"Are you challenging me?"

Harry holds his gaze for a few seconds before he is pulling his hand away. "No, please just carry on," he breaths out nervously, chewing on his lip and looking past the stranger in hopes a new customer will walk in.

"I think you're challenging me."

Harry looks back at him. "I think you've reached a new level of stalker status."

" _Cute_ ," the stranger mumbles to himself, lips curving into a soft smile. Harry flinches at the word and widen his eyes, not expecting something like to be said from a boy who has been teasing him for the past ten minutes. "Fancy that. You're not being shy today, being more of an ass."

Harry rolls his eyes and watches as the guy starts to walk backwards out the bakery, looking all smug and cute, pissing Harry off with how cocky and confident he is. He reaches the door with ease and without bumping into anything, still looking back at Harry as if he was the most amusing thing in the world.

"Will I be seeing you at the game?" The strangers calls out, back pressing the door slightly open while his friend walks past him to get outside. 

"In your dreams," Harry frowns. 

"I'll be counting on it." 

Harry lets out a huff and turns around to face the wall behind him. He closes his eyes and scrunches his face up in what he hopes would alleviate the tension he feels in his body, but all it does is make his nose hurt. He sighs and opens his eyes again, turning back around to see Niall now standing on the other side of the counter with wide, frantic eyes. 

"What the hell, Harry? You were an asshole to him." he nearly screams, looking amused somehow. 

"I don't care," Harry grunts in annoyance, crumbling up the receipt the guy left and tossing it aggressively on the counter. "He's that prick I met in the stadium. The one I told you about." Niall immediately starts laughing. "Stop, why are you laughing?" Harry asks with a pout.

"Oh my gosh, Harry," Niall giggles uncontrollably. "He's flirting with you. You're a lucky bastard."

"No, hell, no." Harry panics right away, widening his eyes and reaching out to slap Niall in the chest to get him to stop speaking that nonsense. "He's not flirting, he's just a prick, okay? And anyways, you might see him at the game."

"Yeah, okay, Harry. I'll see you later," Niall snorts on his way out when Jake and another friend of his, Hunter, show up outside the bakery. Harry frowns when he suddenly sees the three of them turning to laugh at them, wondering what on earth could be so funny.

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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****LouisTomlinson:**** Game Day

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//

Stamford Bridge fills up quickly with fans, and the football pitch is divided into the blue versus white inner squad. The team Louis is on is the blue one, and Coach names him captain while the white team has Stan as their captain. Since there has been a lot of talk on who the new captain of the upcoming team would be, Coach has been persistent in finding the new leader. Louis has been in the talks since he joined this club, but with the amount of bad rep Louis has in the media, it has kept Coach hesitant in giving this title to Louis. There have been many meetings between Coach and Louis where Louis would get lectured on his attitude. Louis is known to be too aggressive and straight forward - his mouth likes to get him in more trouble than he needs, and his fist sometimes liked to make up what his mouth couldn't voice. He's been in bar fights. He's been banned from games - he's done all these things that set himself back from being the best captain Chelsea has ever seen, and it's something he needs to work on if becoming a captain is something he dreams of. 

Louis gets Liam on his team, one of Louis' best mates. They have been friends since they both joined the academy together at a young age, and despite Louis being called up when he was sixteen, they still remained friends. It did take Louis a year or two before he was finally a first string forward for Chelsea, so now that Liam had been on the roster for at least the past year, Louis assumes that Liam will earn his spot into the starting rotation just like he did when he first got pulled up. Leevi and Ronni were a couple of other buddies that get placed on Louis' team, and Louis is thankful enough the Coach had it right in his mind to pair up his ideal starting line up with Louis' team. It's probably why they end up winning, but Louis trusts these guys on the field with him. He knows Leevi and Ronni are the top and most aggressive defenders on the team, and he knows Liam loves to put his maximum effort into preventing the ball from reaching the back of the net, so it's a perfect pairing in Louis' mind. They are all dedicated players, the type Louis loves to have out on the field with him, and truthfully, he would have Stan out there with him as well, but since he's the captain of the other team, he has to suffer the loss of being paired with the second and third string players. 

After the match ends, the team heads through the tunnel to make their way back to the locker room. 

"Hey want to go out for drinks?" Liam questions as he bounces up next to Louis, tossing an arm around his shoulder and pulling him into his side.

"Is that even a question?" Louis hums.

"Hell yeah."

Louis rolls his eyes, but he knows the lads want to go out tonight. It's a Saturday evening, and his teamed their first inner squad match of the season - of course it calls for celebration.

He heads into the locker room and takes a quick shower to wash away the filth from the game. He knows he has hours before any of them even think to head out to any bar, so his plan was to get cleaned up and then take a long ass nap. He gets back to his flat shortly after he leaves Stamford Bridge. He doesn't live too far from the stadium, but he made sure the apartment complex he stays in is guarded and protected. He knew being a football player comes with a price, and one of that is being well known in London. He's had a few crazed fans try to stalk him, but with how private and secluded his flat is, he knew he picked a safe place to live. 

After Louis takes his nap with the day falling to night, he starts to get ready. He leaves his hair messy since he slept on it wet, and there really isn't much for him to do other than to ruffle it up. So he does just that - he runs his fingers through his hair and makes it look the perfect amount of messy before he's putting clothes on his body. He settles for a black muscle top and black skinnies, really feeling the whole black vibe today. He isn't necessarily in the mood to impress anyone with his looks, and he truly did want to go out with his teammates to have fun so this outfit was just as good as any for that kind of setting. Once Louis grabs his wallet, keys and phone, he texts one of his drivers to take him to the bar his group is already at. He notices the place is crowded upon arriving, and he cringes as he tries to squeeze his body through the mass of people before he is breaking free and finding his group at a table near the bar. Louis huffs and walks over to join them, offering the lads a smile when they cheer for his arrival.

Louis reaches for the drink menu and begins looking over what he wants 

"Anybody ready for the first round of shots?" Stan asks abruptly, crowding up against Louis' back and invading his personal space by placing his hands on both his shoulders. 

Louis flinches, shaking his body to get Stan to drop his hands. "Yeah, if you buggar off," he grumbles underneath his breath. 

"Get tequila," Leevi calls out, giving Stan a wink when he turns towards the bar. 

Louis smiles at the thought of taking shots and getting drunk with his friends. He knows it's been awhile since they all got together like this, and he truly is looking forward to getting plastered with them. It has been a long off season of non stop training and practicing, and truth be told, Louis can use a night out like this. 

"Hey, you lot ready to finally order?" Ronni asks from his spot across Louis, eyeballing all the other people at the table.

"I've been waiting to order this whole time," Liam grumbles. "You guys are the ones taking forever."

"Well, where's the bloody waitress then?" Louis snaps, setting his menu down and seeking out someone to take their order. 

He finally catches eye of a worker and flags them down. Liam, Ronni, Leevi and Zayn, another one of Louis' mates, all tell the waitress their drink orders before Louis tells his. After the waitress gets everybody's drinks, she walks over to the bar and hands the list to the bartender. In the mean time, Ronni and Leevi begin arguing over football while Zayn and Liam start bickering over something stupid. Louis smiles at the lot of them and enjoys the moment he's in when suddenly his phone vibrates, and he gets distracted long enough to drag his eyes away from his friends to reach for his pants. He pulls his mobile out of his pocket and taps the screen to see who messaged him. It's Eleanor, another one of Louis' friends that he likes to go to bars with, except, more often than not, their meet ups end up in hook ups, and every time she comes into the scene, they end up falling into bed together especially now since their fling is currently on. So he isn't surprised when Eleanor seeks him out. It's one of those nights where they want to go out and drink, and the sex between them never meant anything before, so Louis sees no harm in inviting her to the bar with them. It's just meaningless fun between two friends, and Louis could care less what other people thought because in the end, the two of them were pretty content with having a solid shagging partner. 

Soon Stan is walking back to the table with a tray full of shots and ends up distracting Louis with that. Louis quickly pockets his phone and smiles wide as he grabs a shot glass from the lad. "Cheers," Stan calls out. "Ready for another kick ass season."

"Cheers," the rest repeat. 

They continue to cycle in rounds of shots after their drinks are placed in front of them. Louis knows he is well on the verge of getting tipsy and getting desperate for Eleanor to finally show. The alcohol is building up in his system, and simply sitting at the table doing nothing is starting to make him antsy. He wants to dance and kiss, maybe fuck a little, but he wants to do something - anything other than continuing to sit his ass in stool. 

Ironically, thats when a flash of curls passes by his line of vision. 

Louis' eyes peak interest as he follows that mop of curls to the end of the bar. He feels this sense of hope bubbling up inside of him in him wanting that head of curls to be the mystery green eyed boy he's already seen twice in less than two weeks. Ever since Louis left the bakery that morning, he really has been hoping to see the curly boy again. He didn't think the boy went to the game, but at least now he is here in front of his eyes. Louis downs the rest of his beer and finally gets up from his seat to go see him. He straightens up and makes sure he isn't too much of a drunk idiot before he finally makes his way over to the curly headed lad and his blonde friend. Louis gets excited each step he gets closer, and by the time he is leaning on the bar top next to the boy, he is full blown smiling. 

"Well, if it isn't Curly McCurly Pants," Louis slurs happily, his blue eyes shimmering where they are drinking in the beautiful facial structures of the boy next to him.

The boy closes his eyes and physically tenses up at Louis' voice, but he slowly opens his eyes again and reluctantly turns to look at Louis. "Two times in one day," He cheers sarcastically, rolling his eyes in annoyance. 

"I know, I'm very lucky." Louis continues to smile as he props an elbow on top of the bar. He leans his bodyweight against the whole thing and ends up resting his chin on top of his fist. He then scans his eyes over the boy's clothes and feels an unusually warm feeling spreading across his chest. "You look beautiful by the way," Louis comments easily, dragging his eyes back to the boy's and noticing him look down with a blush. Louis pouts, reaching out to press his finger under the boy's chin to lift his face up gently. "Don't hide, love. Your smile is just as gorgeous."

Another pink tint coats the boy's cheeks, and he covers it with a small, nervous laugh. "I'm sorry," he whispers, nibbling on his bottom lip.

" _Cute_ ," Louis notes more to himself, staring back at the curly headed boy like he is the most precious thing in the room. He might be, Louis doesn't know, but he does know he is a little bit tipsy, and staring at this boy in front of him has been the highlight of his night so far. "How about a name?" Louis wonders, raising his eyebrows hopefully.

The boy lets out a huff and slouches his shoulders. He looks reluctant to even answer, squinting his eyes together and testing Louis with a look as if he wasn't sure Louis could handle what his name is. Louis didn't understand what went through this boy's head, but somehow, his hesitance and annoyance towards Louis was somehow endearing to him. 

"It's _uh_ \- It's Harry."

"I'm Louis," Louis quickly greets, offering his hand to Harry with a cheeky grin. Harry looks down at Louis' offered hand before glancing back up at Louis, narrowing his eyes while he hesitantly reaches to shake it. 

Louis smiles proudly before he turns to the bartender to catch his attention. "Hey, Ted. You can put all their drinks tonight on my tab," he offers, eyes dancing over to Harry's and seeing his eyes widen in shock. "My treat," Louis adds as an after thought. 

Harry continues his cautious stare while Louis reaches out to grab his hand. He blinks his blue eyes together, gently bringing Harry's hand up to his mouth to press a lasting kiss on the top of his knuckles. Harry lets out a gasp at the act, but he covers it with a small cough and by slowly pulling his hand away from Louis. The two look at each other for what feels like forever before Louis is finally turning to walk away from them. He goes back to join his group of friends to see another round of shots on the table and his name being chanted again when he approaches them all. Louis smiles to himself as he takes a seat, eyes searching the crowd until they land on Harry and his friend at the bar. He can see the two of them talking, the blonde one showing more emotion while Harry seems to still be in shock. Louis giggles under his breath as he continues to watch them interact, but then Ronni crowds up against his side and distracts him from looking. 

"So who was that you just went over to?" Ronni questions, too nosey for his own good.

"Hey, isn't that the same kid we saw earlier at the bakery?" Zayn then asks across the table, casually turning his head to look off at where Harry and his friend are still sitting at.

Louis lets out a huff and tries to mask his annoyance with a lazy shrug, not entirely too keen on being interrogated by his friends right now, he simply wants to enjoy his time. "He's just this kid I like messing with," Louis settles with, grabbing his pint and taking a slow sip from it.

"Oh, new boy toy, eh?" Leevi teases where he's sat on the other side of Louis, nudging his arm playfully. Louis grunts in response and pulls himself away.

"Please, Louis could do so much better than that cock virgin," Stan blurts out a second later, a laugh following shortly after. 

Louis feels his eye twitch, but he refuses to say anything in favor of taking another sip. He wants to have a good time he tries to remind himself, but his friends really are testing his patience. There's no need to get worked up over a little bit of banter. He's okay, and what they're saying about Harry doesn't bother him. For gods sake, he just met that boy not too long ago. 

He's _fine_. 

"Aw, he looks cute," Leevi notes in a sickening sweet voice. 

"Alright, guys," Liam finally cuts in, eyeballing Leevi and Stan when they looked like they wanted to say more. Once Liam sees they're finished with their jabs, he then turns his attention to Louis. "Leave that poor boy alone, Lou. He looks way too young for you."

Louis lets out a snort and finishes the rest of his beer in one gulp. When he's finished with the pint, he sets it off to the side with an eye roll. "That stupid boy doesn't even know who I am," Louis admits exasperated, shaking his head in mere shock. "Who the fuck doesn't know me?"

"Who cares?" Zayn questions with a twitch to his eyebrow, looking at Louis carefully. 

"Obviously, I fucking do, Zayn. That's who the fuck cares."

"Calm down, Lou," Zayn warns. 

Louis rolls his eyes at the comment and lets out a humorless laugh. He can feel his eyebrows furrowing together and his eyes hardening in anger, and he doesn't exactly know what it was that set him off like this, but it's there. Either way, he's in a mood now, and the last thing he wants to do is deal with his friends talking to him about Harry - _the boy who has no fucking clue who Louis Tomlinson is_ \- that fucking Harry. Louis doesn't bother to stay at the table once his eyes land on Eleanor weaving her way through the crowd of people. He almost feels a sense of relief at finally seeing her in the bar, knowing very well she is his escape route from his friends so he quickly pushes himself out the chair and nearly rushes his way to her. He pulls her straight to the dance floor without a second thought. He has alcohol and anger in his system, and if he wants to make it through the rest of the night with ease, he needs to do something to blow off all that steam. So dancing seems like his best option, and Eleanor seems like his best option as well. 

But as the hours drag into the night, and Eleanor's body keeps getting closer to his, all Louis can really think about is that curly headed boy who genuinely did not know who Louis Tomlinson is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is use of homophobic language in this chapter so please be cautious while reading.

Harry takes in a deep breath while he waits at the back door to Stamford Bridge, anxiously trying to convince himself to actually go inside. He has his access pass hung around his neck that allows him to walk freely in the stadium and his photography bag slung around his shoulder for whenever he starts to take pictures, so ultimately, he can go in at any moment. He knows today is his first training session with Matthew - it had been something he's been waiting for since the two of them first met in September – and well, now today's the day Harry gets to actually do it. With another sigh, Harry pushes past the door and finally walks down the hallway. Harry easily locates Matt's office once he is inside, and he presses a soft knock to his office door before he is shyly walking his way inside. Matt is sitting at his desk looking through some folders when he sees Harry walking in. He sets those down and offers the boy a bright smile.

"You made it," Matt greets happily, motioning out to the open chair on the opposite side of his desk. "Please, take a seat."

"Thank you," Harry whispers. He carefully walks over to the arm chair and sits down. He places his photography bag down at his feet and ends up folding his hands together in his lap. "It's good to see you again."

It has been over a month since Harry first met Matt, and since there are two other applicants that are fighting for the same position of the internship as Harry, there is a whole process Matt had set up to help him pick out his best applicant. It starts with the tour and an introductory session with Matt, and then Matt has a one on one session with each applicant to guide them on what he does daily for Chelsea's media – meaning, the applicant gets to take photos for a practice and then for a given game and afterwards look through the pictures to see which ones are the best to be uploaded. Then at the end of the whole process, Matthew looks over the applicant's overall performance and chooses which one he wants by his side leading in to the regular season. Since Harry was working at the bakery before this internship, he wanted to be the last applicant to actually interview with Matt so he could properly end his job with decent amount of notice. In the meantime, Matt worked with the other students before Harry's turn came around, and well, after months of waiting – now it actually _is_ Harry's turn to show what he's got. Harry feels more than ready to take on this whole process, but he knows he needs to excel today and excel the upcoming Chelsea game in order to get the position full time. It's just little steps Harry needs to take in order to get the internship.

"So, today, I want you to really focus on getting comfortable with your camera. The team is just practicing today, so I think it would be good if you focus on where you want to stand on the field and what kind of settings you want to use that helps with the lighting in the stadium. I usually use the first session as a way for the applicant to get a feel of everything."

Harry hums thoughtfully, nodding his head at the explanation. "That doesn't seem too bad," he notes more to himself.

"Of course not. It's an easy day," Matt reassures with a smile. "Any questions?"

"Not that I can think of. I just want to thank you again for this, honestly, it means a lot."

"I should be thanking you," Matt laughs weakly, running his fingers through his fringe while he relaxes in his chair. "Me and my wife are expecting soon so this whole internship will be saving my ass."

"Well, I'm glad I can help."

Matt stands up shortly after and guides Harry out the office. He leads Harrydown the hallway and leaves him at the end of the tunnel before he is leaving out the back. When Harry is standing there alone, he lets out a big breath and pokes his head out the tunnel, surveying the empty pitch with another shaky breath coming out.

"You can do this, Harry," he speaks to himself, nibbling on his bottom lip nervously.

Harry leans his back up against the cool wall of the tunnel and starts pulling his camera out of his backpack. He starts fumbling around the settings and takes a test shot of the stadium out in front of him until everything on his camera looks perfect. Once he finds the right shot that accentuates the lighting and the reflection off the turf, he turns towards the pitch and takes the first step out.

This should be simple enough, right?

Harry hangs around off to the side for a couple of moments until a few players are running out on to the field. Then it's like a sudden swarm of them start coming out , and soon enough, Harry has the whole Chelsea roster standing just a couple yards away from him. Harry's eye nearly bulge out their sockets when he takes in all the players in front of him, all perfectly built and striding around in confidence. They are all gathered around the coach right now going over their practice plan for the day, so, Harry thinks it's best if his first shot is all of them huddled up.

Harry brings the camera up to his eye, focuses in on the huddle of players, and clicks the button. Then it's like after the initial nerves of his first picture happen, Harry lets loose and really starts to enjoy himself with the photos. He gets more confident the more pictures he takes of the players. He knows he's gotten some solid ones of them doing their warm up routine, doing agilities on the ladders, running some ball drills, and just getting action shots of all the players. He really tries to make sure he gets a good amount of photos of everyone, he wants to be fair and all, but it seems like the more pictures he takes, the more he realizes how drawn he is to a specific player. One of the players on the team, jersey number 17, seems to cast all the attention on himself when he moves along the pitch. He just plays with the ball so effortless and makes all his kicks look so beautiful that it's hard for Harry to not take pictures of him. He shows the most emotion on the field compared to the other players, and Harry knows those are the type of athletes that really makes the shot look more lively.

Harry _does_ try to take more of the other players, though. It's a struggle, but he's all about fairness.

At about the halfway point of the practice, the coach signals for everyone to take a break, which means Harry is done taking pictures for the day. Harry grabs his camera and his bag and walks over to the tunnel again to take a seat on the turf. He rests his back up against the wall and draws his knees up to his chest so he can rest his camera on top of them and flick through the pictures he has taken today. Since he is finished and has nothing else to do, he wants to make sure everything he shot looked good, and hopefully a few of his pictures can end up appearing on the website for today's practice. Harry starts at the beginning and begins flipping through all the pictures he has taken. He notices he got a fair amount of all the players on the team, but the further he gets in with his the photos, the more he starts to realize that about halfway into his session, he took a large portion of player number 17. It is when the first picture of that player flashes by that Harry quickly stops and flips back, realizing that at a quick glance, the player looks exactly like a boy Harry would not like to name or even think about. Except, when Harry really focuses in on a particular picture that perfectly shows number 17's face, that is when Harry realizes that yes, this is the same person that Harry has tried his hardest to completely forget about.

Freaking Louis.

"Well, hello Curly McCurly Pants," says that traitorous voice right in front of Harry.

And just like Harry fears, when he looks up, he sees Louis standing proudly in front of him, number 17 planted right on the front of his jersey. Harry groans as he flicks his eyes between the photo on the camera to the man standing in front of him, feeling his cheeks heat up when he realizes how stupid and confused he is feeling at this moment. Because well, there Louis is, standing there with his practice clothes on and skin glistening in sweat, face flushed red, and looking highly amused at Harry's features, clearly beaming at Harry's confusion.

"W-what?" Harry breathes out, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"Hello," Louis repeats again. He steps forward and takes the spot next to Harry, sitting down next to the boy and smiling even wider. "You know I'm on the team, right?"

Harry pouts as he looks back down of the pictures on his camera, shaking his head when it's clear as day that the person in the photo is _in fact_ Louis, and Louis _is in fact_ on the Chelsea roster. "Wow, I'm so stupid," he grumbles in response.

"You're not stupid – just, maybe, not observant?"

Harry rolls his eyes and slouches some more. "Well, that explains why the little girl asked for your autograph at the bakery, I had no idea why – and then, well, when you asked me if I was going to the game because _duh_ , you're Louis freaking Tomlinson who I met in the tunnels at Stamford Bridge who _plays_ on Chelsea." Harry finishes by slapping a palm to his head. " _Clearly_ , I'm not observant."

Louis softly smiles at the way Harry starts to continuously smack his forehead like it would help him from feeling any stupider so he reaches out and gently wraps his fingers around Harry's wrist to pull his hand away. He then carefully moves his hand over to cup the back of Harry's neck, drawing his face up and looking into Harry's green eyes and feeling an unusual flutter in his stomach.

"It was kind of fun messing with you though," Louis suddenly blurts out, realizing he and Harry's face had gotten closer since looking into each other's eyes so he retracts himself slowly.

Harry jumps a little and blinks to look in front of him, letting out a weak laugh and running his fingers through his fringe. "Yeah," he huffs out. "Honestly, it makes sense why Niall always laughs at me when you're around. I never understood why."

Louis hums thoughtfully. "He's your friend with the blonde hair?"

"Unfortunately," Harry sighs, ignoring the way his heart beats faster at the way Louis giggles at his comment. He shakes his head instead and leans more comfortably against the wall, rubbing his hands down his legs and tucking them under his knees. "So, how old are you then?" he suddenly questions in the midst of the silence.

Louis raises an eyebrow, evidently confused at where the question is coming from.

Harry laughs nervously. " _Um_ , awhile ago you asked how old I was, but I never got to ask you."

" _Ah_ ," Louis hums, understanding what Harry is referring to. "I'm nineteen right now, but next month I'll be twenty."

"Oh, wow, you're kind of young," Harry nearly gawks.

"Speak for yourself, darling. You're only sixteen."

Harry scoffs childishly and crosses his arms over his chest, diverting his eyes off to the side. "I'll have you know I'm in my final year of college," he huffs.

Louis' lips continue to curve into a wider smile the more he looks at Harry, giggling softly when Harry blows air past his pouty lips before he is slouching some more. Louis rolls his eyes fondly and ends up reaching over to press his fingers on either sides of Harry's mouth, biting his own bottom lip as he begins to push them upwards so Harry is forced to smile.

Harry retracts his face with a shy giggle, trying to ignore the way his cheeks flush pink and his heart beat quickens.

"So, you're pretty young to be in your final year, yeah?" Louis suddenly asks once his hands are back in his own space.

Harry sighs at the question, shrugging halfheartedly. "Yeah, well, I'm ahead in my classes so that's why I'm able to graduate a year earlier. I'm pretty smart, I suppose."

"I believe it."

Harry raises his eyebrow at the comment and flicks his eyes over at Louis, noticing that the boy is looking back at him with bright eyes and a soft smile. Harry gulps nervously and runs his fingers through his fringe again, coughing awkwardly and looking out ahead of him, suddenly feeling a wave of nerves that make his stomach churn with flutters.

"You know Niall, my friend, he's practically obsessed with you," Harry notes just to change the subject, pinching his bottom lip with his finger and thumb.

Louis tilts his head to the side and continues to smile at the side of Harry's face when suddenly something catches his attention. He lets out a brief gasp and quickly grabs Harry's wrist to pull his hands away from his face. "You paint your nails?" Louis wonders in awe, turning Harry's hand over so he can look at the chipped pink polish.

Harry nearly pales. "Oh _, um_ –" Harry yanks his hand away quickly and ends up tucking both of them under his thighs, ducking his head down to his chest, embarrassment flushing up his neck.

Louis frowns.

"You don't need to hide them," Louis eases, carefully watching Harry while he reaches out again to grab Harry's hands again from underneath his thighs. "I think this pink color suits you, honestly."

Harry bites his lip and smiles, feeling the tension built up in his shoulders starting to relax and feeling somewhat better since Louis didn't directly make fun of him. It is actually kind of nice having another boy compliment his nails – Harry isn't used to it.

"Thank you," Harry replies under his breath.

Harry finally lifts his head from his chest and dares to look over at Louis again, somewhat expecting him to have a disgusted look on his face or somewhat expecting him to look like he is judging Harry, but Harry sees neither. Instead, Louis' blue eyes are scanning across every feature of Harry's face while his lips are still stretched in a smile, honestly, the most Harry has ever truly seen Louis smile since they met. It is kind of like Louis couldn't stop smiling around Harry if he tried, which, that is definitely different from their past encounters, and oddly enough, it was kind of nice.

Harry's breath catches in his throat when he realizes he and Louis have been looking at each other longer than any amount of time would be considered normal. Harry wants to drag his eyes away and start up a new conversation, he doesn't necessarily want to be the sole focus of Louis' eyes at the moment, but Louis truly is captivating – he locks Harry in his spot with just the look of his cerulean eyes, and Harry feels too drawn to look away. He doesn't even notice when their bodies are suddenly shifting closer to one another, like the way people move when they are about to kiss each other, but before Harry can even think like that and get anxious over it, the coach blows his whistle to get practice started again. Harry's body jerks at the sound and he quickly pulls himself back from Louis' space. He lets out a shaky breath and runs his fingers through his hair while Louis stands back up on his feet with a groan.

With a reluctant sigh, Louis starts to back away slowly, eyes looking right back at Harry as he says, "I guess I'll be seeing you, curly," before he disappears within the crowd of his teammates.  
  
  


**//**   
  
  


**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Cool place, huh?

//

That following day, Harry immediately seeks out Niall. He darts straight to where Niall is standing at his locker and abruptly pushes his body against the locker next to Niall's, expectedly waiting for Niall to start talking. Harry doesn't say anything at all while he stands there, staring back at Niall as if he has two heads and waiting for Niall to be the one to speak. He even impatiently begins tapping his foot on the ground.

Niall closes his door with a huff. "What?" he finally asks.

Harry's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. "You didn't think to tell me that the Louis I was talking to was _the_ Louis Tomlinson?"

Niall tilts his head to the side and looks at Harry carefully before he is laughing loudly. "It took you long enough to realize," he teases, ruffling up Harry's curls playfully and beginning to walk down the hallway towards their first class.

Harry shakes his head. "I mean, it would have been nice to know because like –" Harry pauses with a shrug, nibbling on his bottom lip before his body is suddenly being yanked off to the side. Harry follows with a small squeal and frowns over at Niall when he's pushed up against a wall, ready to ask a swarm of questions when Niall quickly cuts him off.

"Honestly, Harry, don't think nothing," Niall quickly states, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Louis is a knob head – an utter prick, and you don't need to get to know him because he's just going to hurt you."

Harry raises his eyebrow, testing, a little unconvinced, but interested to say the least. Niall always knows more than him.

"Why?" Harry wonders.

Niall lets out a heavy breath and ends up pulling his phone out. Harry twists his lips together and scoots closer to Niall so he can watch the boy type in Louis' name in the search bar. Immediately, a bunch of news articles pop up about the boy, and from a quick glance, Harry can easily say that none of them look relatively positive or look related to anything with football. If anything, all the articles are about Louis' personal life. Harry frowns.

"This is why." Niall shoves his phone over at Harry and waits for him to read everything.  
  
  
  


**Breaking News: Louis Tomlinson caught leaving model Eleanor Calder's house after a night of partying.**

**Breaking News: Louis Tomlinson kicked out of bar after a fight with another customer.**

**Breaking News: Louis Tomlinson brings home same mystery blonde girl for a fifth night in a row.**

**Breaking News: Watch Louis' newest interview to prove that he's London's Top 10 most arrogant celebrity.**

** Can you guess how many times Louis Tomlinson gets suspended this season? Clink the link to cast your poll. **   
  
  


Harry twists his lips to the side and hands Niall his phone back, feeling somewhat disappointed and somewhat confused. "Wow," he settles with.

Niall agrees with a nod. "Yeah, he's great football player, don't get me wrong, but he's just an absolute shit person. No good bone in his body at all."

Harry furrows his eyebrows at the comment and tries to refrain from saying anything himself. He knows Niall means well, and he knows Niall keeps up more with football players than he does, but there is just something about what the media and Niall are saying about Louis that Harry just doesn't one hundred percent believe. Harry knows the media is corrupt, and he knows nobody actually knows a person until they meet them, which is why Harry doesn't see Louis the way others might see him.

Something about his last encounter with Louis really changed how Harry views Louis. Beforehand, Harry genuinely wanted nothing to do with Louis – he thought he was a cocky asshole – but ever since that moment on the turf, Harry doesn't really see him like that anymore. Louis liked Harry's nails. He thought they looked good, and although it's not _that big of a deal_ , it did mean a lot to Harry. After dealing with years of being made fun of for his feminine side, just having another male say it's okay was like a breath of fresh air, and if Louis truly was the asshole he liked to make himself out to be, then he would've reacted more poorly to Harry's nails – but he didn't. He liked them. And now, well, Harry is more than confused when it comes to Louis'. Because Louis can be an asshole, Harry has first handedly experienced it, but at the same time, Louis can also be sweet, a likeable person. It's such a big contrast from both personalities that it makes Harry's head spin, but before Harry can really let himself think any more of it, the bell rings for the start of the school day. So, the conversation is dropped, and they both head to class.

Harry makes it through his first few classes with ease, but then he has to head to French which is the one class he truefully dreads. Harry sighs as he walks through the door to the French class, making note of all the students who are already in their seats. He knows he isn't late, but he does try to get their early enough so he doesn't have to see Tanner whenever he goes to his own desk. Thankfully, Tanner hasn't shown up yet, so Harry gets to his seat with ease.

" _Bonjour, les élèves,_ " The teacher greets when the bell rings and all the students are finally seated. "Today, we are going to be doing partner work with verb conjugations. I will be assigning the partners, but I want everyone to read each sentence carefully and pick out the key words to help you with your answers."

Harry groans softly as he slumps in his seat, already dreading this class even more now that he has to work with a stranger. Harry hates partner work, and he hates having to work with people he doesn't know. Most of the time, Harry ends up doing all the work by himself while the other person sits there on their phones, and Harry just wasn't in the mood right now to deal with that. He had more pressing matters on his mind, like Louis, which he _was_ trying not to think about. But, of course, this day just has to keep pressing Harry some more because right when he thinks he is in the clear of being partnered with _he who shall not be named,_ that's exactly who he ends up getting paired with. The second his and Tanner's name slip from the teacher's mouth, Harry feels his entire heart drop down to his stomach and his nerves going on overdrive.

Great.

Harry gulps nervously and begins to pack all his belongings together because he knows Tanner won't make the effort to move to his desk. So with a reluctant sigh, Harry pulls himself out of his chair and walks to the back where Tanner is casually resting in his seat, feet lazily tossed on top of his desk and hands resting on his belly. Harry rolls his eyes and takes the spot next to his.

"So you do your work, and I'll do mine," Tanner speaks once Harry is seated, ignoring him in favor of looking at the sheets the teacher had just passed around.

Harry sighs, but he ultimately agrees. If he gets to do his assignment in peace without having to actually talk to Tanner, then so be it. Harry won't be the one complaining about it. Harry grabs his pencil and begins filling out the answers to the questions on the sheet. He can feel Tanner occasionally glancing over at his desk to take a peek at some of the answers, and Harry has to roll his eyes every time because technically, they should be getting the same answers since _this is_ a partner assignment, however, it isn't like Harry was going to say anything about it. It's not like Tanner has to actually cheat or anything, but Harry carries on with his work while Tanner continues to cheat off him. 

"I hope you realize number twelve is wrong, idiot" Tanner suddenly grumbles, scoffing under his breath and writing something else down for that problem.

Harry frowns and looks at his answer again, pinching his eyebrows together. "What? How do you know?"

"Because I know how to do fucking French. It's _as_ , not _auras_."

Harry shakes his head and reads over the problem again, making sure he finds the key words to help him determine the answer. He finds it, he underlines it, he reads the sentence again, and he realizes that he is right and Tanner is wrong. The sentence clearly signifies the verb should be in future tense, and Harry doesn't really appreciate getting called an idiot for something he did right.

"I'm pretty sure I'm right," Harry finally states, sounding just a little bit confident.

But, well, Tanner is an ass, and he doesn't ever let Harry believe he is right.

"Listen you fucking _fag_ , this sentence is in present, ergo, it's _as._ "

Tanner ends up abruptly standing to his feet to go turn his paper in, knocking over a few things on the top of Harry's desk in the process. Harry stares after him with a shaky breath when the homophobic word starts ringing in between his ears, not feeling any part of his body being able to move since that is all he can think about. Harry hates that word. It makes him feel nauseous, but he tries not to think too much about it while he finishes up the last few problems on the worksheet.

By the time the end of the hour bell rings, Tanner comes back to purposely bump into Harry while reaching to grab his belongings off the floor. "See you around, _queer,_ " he departs with, ruffling up Harry's hair before he is abruptly pushing his head out of his way. 

Harry lets out a loud huff and tries his best to remain calm and ignore the words, but he can feel his blood boiling and his heart picking up speed. He really tries to level his breathing out and not let it get out of control, but Tanner has always been a person that gets under Harry's skin like this, and he always knew exactly what to say to make Harry feel anxious. Harry hates it, and he hates how easily he lets himself succumb to someone using offensive words his way, but well – he keeps hearing it, and it keeps effecting him poorly.

Harry finally grabs all his things and heads out the classroom. He knows he doesn't see Tanner for the rest of the day, which is a good thing considering Niall had to leave school early for a dentist appointment. Harry really didn't think he could handle another interaction with Tanner without his friend by his side. It was barely enough having to work with him in French, and Harry isn't sure he can handle any more than he was given. Except, it seems like today is a special day or something because everywhere Harry looks whenever he goes to class, he could see Tanner. And it wasn't like Tanner was doing anything particular to the boy, but it just seems like wherever Harry turns, he can just see Tanner - either out the corner of Harry's eyes or down the hallway where he was with his friends - either way, it is enough to make Harry feel queasy for the rest of the day. And well, it didn't seem like luck is truly on Harry's side again because when the school day is finally over and Harry is walking back to his locker, Tanner immediately walks up to him, lazily bumping his shoulder.

"Excuse me, chick," he grumbles, suddenly stopping and looking at Harry as if he didn't know he was just standing there. He laughs bitterly. "Oh, my bad, I thought you were a girl."

Harry rolls his eyes at the comment. "You knew who it was dumbass," he mumbles under his breath, dialing in his combo and opening up his locker to switch some things out.

"What'd you say you fucking _queer_?" Tanner then shouts, grabbing on to Harry's arm and jerking him away from the locker, turning Harry around and slamming him up against it. Harry's face blanches for a second. "If you got something to say, then fucking say it."

Harry gulps, licking his lips before he tries pushing Tanner off his body. "I said you're the one who got number twelve wrong, idiot."

Tanner's eyes harden where they are glaring back at Harry's face, and with a low grunt, he rears his fist back and sends a blow straight towards Harry's jaw. Harry's body deflects on instant, but not in enough time to avoid the collision. Harry slumps against the locker when a fist collides with his chin and a wave of pain shoots shoots through his body. Harry's eyes widen in fear when he looks back at Tanner, shocked from the punch, immediately feeling tears when he reaches up to cup the underside of his jaw, feeling a dull throb and a nice cut. Harry lets out a shaky breath and cautiously looks around the area to see a bunch of students gathered around watching - some laughing, some gossiping, some even having the nerve to have their phones pulled out to record everything.

A big wave of embarrassment washes down Harry's body, and he quickly grabs all his things so he can scramble his way past all the people surrounding him. His heart is beating loudly in between his ears, and his vision is slightly blurry due to the tears, but he has it in his right mind to at least let his legs lead him away from the school. He just starts running and running, not really sure where he is going until he sees Hyde Park coming in to view, the [infamous bridge](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/548a/72df/e58e/ce0d/7900/008f/large_jpg/7._Linear_Park_Bridge_-_the_new_bridge_spans_the_natural_cascades_which_are_intended_to_improve_the_river_ecology.jpg?1418359515) over the rocky river that Harry has his eyes set on going to. When Harry approaches it, he immediately slumps his body against the end post of the bridge and buries his head deep into his arms. He lets himself fully cry now that he is no longer in the presence of other people. He's embarrassed and hurt, and he's never been punched before at this school so it came as a big surprise when Tanner sent his fist flying towards Harry's jaw. It is almost like a reminder of the life Harry had before coming to London, the one Harry tries to forget back in Cheshire. That was where he got the most abuse from. There was always laughing. There was always teasing. There was always the fear of something happening to him every day that lead to constant panic attacks, and it was the main reason why they had to move in the first place. London was better, it _is_ better. Harry really hasn't faced the near amount of bullying as he did back in Cheshire, but with Tanner around, he always sends Harry back to that dark place he's been trying hard to escape. 

Suddenly, with all these emotions clouding Harry's mind, he realizes the world is starting to close in on him. His breathing gets short and choppy, and every breath feels like he's breathing in a plastic bag. His heart won't stop beating rapidly, and whenever he tries to blink his eyes open, everything is blurry and out of focus, which just drives Harry's anxiety even more. It takes a soft voice of someone calling his name to bring him back to reality for a bit. He can feel a body suddenly sitting down next to him and then pressing in close to his own. Harry really tries to focus on the person next to him, wanting to know how he even knew Harry was there in the first place, but then Harry is hit with the reminder of his emotional state, and he starts to get even more embarrassed than he originally was.

Harry lets out a choked breath.

"Hey, Harry, breathe, you're okay. You're okay," Louis tries to soothe, pressing a careful hand on Harry's shoulder. "Why are you crying, love?"

Harry shakes his head and buries his face back in his arms, refusing to look at Louis while also trying his best to breathe properly. It doesn't really help that his airways are blocked by his arms and his clothes, but if it means he can hide his face from Louis, then so be it.

"Go away, Louis," Harry manages to finally say.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Louis pinches his eyebrows together as he reaches out to pull Harry's arms away from his face. Harry lets him do so easily, letting Louis guide him so that he is now leaning against the post without his arms or clothes blocking his mouth or nose. Louis frowns when he looks Harry up and down and the frantic state he is in before he is cupping his hand at the back of Harry's neck to draw him in against his chest. Harry falls easily and lets his ear rest against Louis' chest, closing his eyes and listening to the smooth way Louis' heart is beating evenly against his chest, following the way Louis' breaths are coming out calmly.

"Just breathe, Harry. You can do it," Louis encourages, running his hand up and down Harry's back.

Finally, Harry feels like he is coming down from his little spiel, feeling relatively normal and like he can properly breathe again. Louis notices and starts to slowly pull Harry's head away, wanting to look into his green eyes to make sure he truly has gotten better when he suddenly notices the cut on Harry's jaw.

"Woah, what the fuck happened?" Louis questions right away, modeling Harry's face around and attesting the damage done on Harry's chin, nibbling on his bottom lip as he runs a light finger over the cut.

"It was just Tanner."

"Does he bully you?"

Harry gulps nervously, shaking his head out of Louis' hold. "N-No. He's just – he's not my friend."

Louis raises an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.

"I'm serious," Harry nearly whines. "It was my fault, really. I provoked him."

Louis begins shaking his head right away. "Harry, that's not a good enough reason to punch somebody."

Harry blows air past his lips and ends up wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He really doesn't want to continue talking about what happened considering he's still embarrassed and his jaw is throbbing like crazy so he quickly changes the subject to something else.

"Wait, why are you here?" he asks instead.

Louis licks his lips and finally relaxes against the post, allowing for the subject to change and lazily pointing out to the playground ahead of them. "I brought my little sisters to play. They're the twins on the slides over there."

Harry feels his lips curving up as he drags his eyes in the area Louis is pointing, noticing two girls that have matching outfits on. "They're cute. How old are they?"

"Six years old, and a handful."

"What're their names?"

"The one with the pigtails is Phoebe, and the one with her hair down is Daisy."

Harry smiles as he watches them start to chase each other, hearing Louis giggle from his spot next to him. Harry slowly drags his eyes back over to Louis and notices he has the brightest smile on his face while watching his sisters, looking completely fond and happy that Harry is there with him. It makes Harry smile some more too, and it makes Harry confusion about Louis continuously grow.

"And speak of the little devils," Louis suddenly calls out, causing Harry to snap his head in the direction of where two little girls are running their way towards them.

The one with the pig tails, Phoebe, crawls into Louis' lap and looks up at him. "Who's dis, bubba?"

Daisy, on the other hand, sits down next to Louis and buries herself under his arm, carefully leaning over so she can cautiously look at Harry. Harry offers her a small smile before he is looking at Phoebe, noticing her wide eyes are staring curiously at him.

"This is Harry," Louis greets. "Can you both say hi to him?"

"Hi, Harry," Phoebe speaks up first, waving excitedly. "I'm Phoebe."

Daisy finally perks up. "I'm Daisy," she says happily, chewing on the pads of her fingers as she adds, "You're pretty."

"Well, you are pretty, too," Harry responds with a smile. "It's nice to meet the both of you."

Louis winks over at Harry before he looks down at the both of them. "I guess this my cue to take you monkeys to the ice cream shop, yeah?"

"Yes, yes, yes, please," Phoebe nearly squeals.

Louis rolls his eyes fondly, laughing under his breath while he starts to stand. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's get going, then."

Once the three of them are back on their feet, Daisy turns towards Harry and offers her hand. "Are you coming, too?"

Harry eyes widen as he briefly looks up at Louis for a response, realizing that he was smiling even wider and looking not bothered at all. Harry eases and looks back at Daisy. "Of course I am."

Daisy squeals happily and nearly yanks Harry on to his feet. She holds on to his hand tightly and starts singing some song while she follows behind Louis and Phoebe. They walk across the street where the said ice cream shop is, and Daisy and Phoebe immediately let go of their hands once they're inside to go search for the sweets that they want to get. Louis snorts as he goes to find a table, pulling a chair out for Harry and sitting down next to the one he offers the boy.

Harry blushes and takes a seat, crossing his hands on top of the table and watching the twins bury their hands in the basket full of Taaffe.

"Do you want anything?" Louis asks once they are seated.

"No, thanks." Harry continues to watch the twins go from one basket of candy to the next, filling their bags with a bunch of different sweets that makes Harry start to giggle. "You sure they need any more sugar in them?" Harry teases, shaking his head when Phoebe drags Daisy to the M&M wall.

Louis' eyes flick over to his sisters and he smiles. "Don't worry. I won't let them eat it all right now. It's enough to last them for a week, but I try to make sure they don't eat too much in a day. Don't want them to get cavities and all that."

Harry hums thoughtfully, glancing at Louis for a split second before looking at the twins again. "I never knew you were such a good big brother."

" _There's a lot of things people don't know about me_."

Harry chews his lip and looks back at Louis again, blushing when he realizes the boy is already looking at him. Harry flushes even more, and he tries to busy himself by watching his finger twiddle with one another, awkwardly clearing his throat and trying to ignore the way his stomach is fluttering with butterflies.

"So _uh_ – thanks for helping me with all that," Harry suddenly says, motioning his hands over towards the door, feeling embarrassed again.

"Of course," Louis responds softly. "Sometimes we just get a little lost in our emotions, and we can't help it."

They are interrupted when Daisy and Phoebe come back to the table, each with a bag full of candy. "We're ready, bubba," Phoebe affirms.

"We got lots of candies," Daisy adds with a devious giggle.

Louis lets out a sigh and glances at Harry. "Duty calls."

Louis reaches for each of their free hands and guides them over to the lady mending the cash register. It gives Harry some time to actually admire Louis in a different light than the one Harry has been seeing. It's been nice to see the way Louis acts around his sisters, an ultimately different way than the media has portrayed him, and definitely a different way than he's treated Harry before. So yeah, maybe there is a lot about Louis that people and Harry don't know about, which makes him even more interesting than before, but the more Harry watches him, the more confused he gets when he realizes Louis really is someone he doesn't understand. Because there Louis is with his sisters, paying for their candy like the good big brother that he is, but there is also the Louis who is shamelessly flirting with the worker behind the register, not minding that her boobs are nearly out her shirt while he has his little sisters right there next to him. He even has the audacity to lean forward and press a kiss to the worker's cheek after giving her an autograph and a wink. It's as disgusting as it is unsurprising, and Harry should have known that Louis wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be flirty with a girl if it meant he got to touch or kiss her in anyway.

See, now _that_ is the Louis Tomlinson everyone talks about.

Harry feels like a fool as he sits at the table alone so when Louis and the twins start walking back, he abruptly stands up, says his goodbye, and rushes out the front door without another word. 


	4. Chapter 4

The best thing about the weekends, for Harry, is getting to sleep in. Since his job at the bakery, he always had to wake up early to open the shop, but now, he doesn't work there any more. Now, he finally gets to enjoy his weekend without having anyone disturb him before noon. Just the thought of spending the day being lazy and maybe eating popcorn while watching movies is enough to keep Harry's eyes close for a little bit longer. Harry knows he probably has plans for the day, maybe it was game day for all he knows, but his bed is super comfortable, and he knows he has a couple more hours before he has to actually look decent to go anywhere outside his house. However, fate is never on Harry's side because soon enough, there is an incisive buzzing sound coming from the spot next to him on the bed, and it abruptly causes Harry to wake up. With a grumble, Harry reaches over for his phone.

"WHAT?" He nearly yells in the line, not bothering to see who it is because well, this person ruined his sleep. 

"Harry." It's Niall. "Have you seen the news, yet?"

Harry groans as he runs his hand over his face. "No, Niall. I just woke up."

"Mate, there are articles of you and Louis all over the internet."

At that, Harry sits up quickly. 

"What are you talking about?" Harry questions frantically, turning on his mattress so his legs can hang off the side. 

"Look, I'm walking up to your house. I'll show you once I get inside."

Harry hangs up the phone and waits until his mother lets Niall in. He can hear them talking downstairs and then hears Niall coming towards him. He figures he should look relatively decent for Niall's appearance so he gets up off his bed and walks over to his closet. He pulls out a pair of sweats to cover his bottoms up and then an oversized hoodie for his top. Just as he gets dressed and ruffles his hair out of his face, Niall is barging in his room. 

"Niall," Harry greets calmly, ignoring the frantic state his best friend is currently in. "What's going on?"

Niall shakes his head and drags Harry back towards his bed. He pulls his phone out of his pants pocket and searches _Louis Tomlinson_ on his google page. Once the first article pops up, he hands the phone over to Harry. "Look," he urges. 

Harry sighs as he grabs the phone and looks down at the article Niall pulls up. Upon seeing the picture on the top of the page, his eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. 

Harry lets out a breath and looks over at Niall, not even having the will to form words about the picture that is shown. But, that doesn't seem to be it because Niall is grabbing at his phone again and pulling up twitter to show Harry the tweets that have been sent about the picture

**Trending:**

**#LouisTomlinson**

_@LouisGirl tweeted:_ I WOULD DIE TO HAVE LOUIS LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!!!

 _@Wendy_Tomlinson tweeted:_ Louis looks so in love. I'm dead.

 _@LWTupdates tweeted:_ Rumor has it that the person Louis went on a date with was a boy. #GayLouisRise ?

 _@IsawLouis tweeted:_ Louis was with his twin sisters and a date with super curly hair. I ship it! #LouisAndMysteryDate

 _@TommoLove tweeted:_ Really couldn't even tell if it was a girl or boy? Doesn't matter, Louis is taken by me people!!!!

Harry chokes on his breath again and hands the phone slowly back to Niall. "Wha-What?"

Niall notices the strained look on Harry's face and can tell his anxiety levels are starting to rise. Harry's breathing is beginning to pick up, like it always does when he's too overwhelmed with something, and his eyes are fully widen in shock. His hands are shaky when he gives the phone back to Niall, and his once dry, green eyes are starting to water up. Niall lets out a sigh and draws Harry in to his side with an arm going around his shoulder. 

"Hey, Haz, calm down, okay?" Niall advises, drawing circles with his finger on Harry's arm. "You're overthinking this. No one got a clear picture of the two of you, and no one knows that it's you. I just wanted to show you this so the next time you see him, it won't be weird."

Harry laughs bitterly. "I see him today."

Harry closes his eyes and shrugs Niall's hand off his body in favor of falling back on his mattress. He brings his hands up to cover his face and lets out a loud groan at the thought of having to face Louis today. He is currently the last person Harry wants to see right now. Harry didn't want Louis, let alone the world, to ever think there was something beyond a mutual friendship between the two of them. 

"You're good at being oblivious," Niall then mentions, smiling when Harry kicks his leg out. "Just act like you don't know anything. No harm done if you don't know."

Harry whines deep within his throat. "Fine," he settles with, finally sitting up again on his bed. "I guess I can do that," he reasons to himself. "I can do that since I already want to forget about everything anyway."

Niall smiles brightly and punches Harry playfully in the arm. "That's the spirit." Next, Niall gets up from the bed and walks over to Harry's dresser and begins to open the drawers. He starts rummaging through some of them and picking out clothes he seems to like and tosses them in a pile on the floor. "Now, get dressed, it's time to eat," he informs as he continues to look through Harry's clothes. 

Harry rolls his eyes at the comment, but remains perched on the bed since Niall seems keen on finding an outfit for him. Harry figures that if he were to sit there and continue to worry about the rumors online, then he'll just drive himself mad. He knows Niall is right about not letting the articles and the tweets get to him. No one knows it is him, and Harry really doesn't have anything to worry about. The most of Harry's concern lies with Louis, and he isn't so sure how Louis will react upon seeing everything that's surfaced since their ice cream date - or whatever the hell that was. It's just that Harry can never guess right with Louis. Louis has shown so many versions of himself that it makes Harry's head spin sometimes. There are occasions where Louis is genuinely fun to be around, even sweet at times, but then there are those cases where he is an utter dick and feels like he has to go out of his way to terrorize Harry. It's so confusing, and Harry never knows which Louis he is going to see.

"You need to wear something cute," Niall mutters once he has a solid pile of clothes growing on the floor. Harry raises his eyebrows and looks on the ground at a bunch of his shirts thrown together. He then looks up at Niall with the same look as Niall turns around to admire all the options he pulled out the drawer. 

"Don't be daft."

"Oh, come on," Niall whines, pouting as he walks over to join Harry on the bed, grabbing a couple of shirts in the process and tossing it on Harry's lap. "It's so obvious that Louis has a crush on you."

Harry grimaces. "That's a load of bull."

Niall rolls his eyes and stands up from the bed. He mindlessly walks into Harry's closet and starts to sort through his jeans. "He has something for you," he mumbles, pondering, reaching up to grab a pair of black skinnies. "He won't leave you alone." Niall grabs the pair of jeans and walks back into Harry's room. He tosses the jeans in his direction and takes a seat on the bed again. 

Harry grumbles. "You confuse me," he admits. He grabs the jeans and a yellow shirt that was tossed on his lap and walks over to get dressed in his bathroom, leaving the door ajar so he can still hear Niall. 

"You confuse me," Niall repeats back, giggling when he hears Harry groan. "Anyway, what happened the other day to start these rumors?"

Harry waits to respond until he is fully dressed and walking out the bathroom. He stops by his dresser to grab his deodorant and spray and puts both on as he walks to join Niall on the bed. Once he gets there, he flops on his belly. "After the whole thing with Tanner, I escaped to the park, and he saw me there," Harry explains with a frown, rolling on to his side to face Niall. "He was there with his sisters, and he came over to help calm me down. We went to the ice cream shop afterwards."

Niall hums thoughtfully. "Sounds ... interesting."

"I suppose," Harry snorts. "That is until he started flirting with the sexy cashier chick."

Niall laughs loudly. "Damn, he works fast."

Harry raises his brows at the comment and opts to say anything further. Instead, he stands up from the bed and drags Niall up with him. "Aren't we supposed to go eat?" Harry reminds as he pulls Niall out his bedroom door. "You know I have to work today."

Niall easily follows Harry down the stairs and they both say goodbye to Anne. They quickly make it outside and get inside Niall's car so they can get the move on for an early lunch. By the time Niall pulls out the driveway and on to the main road, he catches Harry looking out the window with a pout.

"Sorry," Niall apologizes, seeing Harry turn his head in his direction, slightly confused. "You just brought Louis up, and I -"

"You brought him up," Harry reminds with a frown. "You always bring him up." 

Niall tosses his hands in the air defensively. "Hey, I'm just trying to figure the both of you out."

Harry lets out a sigh and leans back in his seat. "You and me both, mate," he whispers before he lets the soft sounds of the radio fill the air. 

**///**

Harry arrives to the stadium around noon after he has an early lunch with Niall. He has about two hours until the actual game starts, but Matt advised him to start taking pictures before of the players arriving to the stadium, getting some of their pre-game locker routines, their warm ups, their huddles, and just about everything else that leads up to the start of the game. Harry already got a bunch of the players arriving in their nice clothes. He had to fight with some of the other reporters and paparazzi that wanted to get the best pictures, but he managed to get some good ones of them walking in the tunnels. Now that the players are changing into their uniforms, Harry waits for his next cue to take pictures. There's a bench inside the tunnel near the end towards the pitch, and Harry figures he can wait there until the team starts to head out for the warm ups. Harry is alone for a good while until he hears the locker room door open, and when Harry turns his head in the direction to see who it was stepping out, he frowns upon seeing Louis. 

"Well, look who it is."

Harry curses under his breath and tries to ignore the bite in Louis' tone by looking down at his camera. "It's me," he responds weakly. 

Harry really tries his best to ignore Louis and the way he keeps getting closer and closer. Harry hopes that him being on his camera will be enough for Louis to just keep on walking past him and not bother to mess with Harry, but just as Harry fears, Louis ends up stopping right in front of him. 

"Yeah, it's you," Louis nearly snarls, sounding on the verge of being disgusted. 

Harry's head snaps up at the tone and frowns at the cold look on Louis' face. Louis' eyes only seem to darken once they make eye contact so Harry quickly looks back down at his camera with a nervous gulp. He tries to remain calm and not let Louis' stare get the best of him, but Louis is currently towering over Harry right now, and all Harry can feel at the moment is Louis' anger radiating off his body. Harry's hands are shaky as he reaches to fumble around on his camera. He lets out a heady breath and tries his best to calm down, but the weight of Louis' eyes on the side of his face is too distracting, and Harry feels so clueless and helpless at this point that he suddenly feels tears in his eyes. 

With a bitter laugh, Harry hastily reaches up to wipe underneath his eyelids. 

"Hey, are you okay?" Louis asks in a much softer tone, Harry suddenly feeling the anger around his body dissipate. 

_Weird_.

"I-I'm fine."

Louis lets out a deep sigh and moves to sit next to Harry on the bench. "I'm sorry, Harry," he mutters under his breath. Louis runs his fingers through his fringe and then gently sets a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Really, I don't even know why I was pissed or why I wanted to take it out on you. I'm just - I'm nervous."

Harry tilts his head in Louis' direction and smiles weakly. "I'm sorry about the rumors. I didn't mean for them to happen."

"It's really no big deal," Louis amends, smiling back as he removes his hand from Harry's shoulder. "I wasn't even mad at you to begin with. It's just a _huge_ season for me, and I didn't really like that I got my ass chewed by the coach. I really didn't mean to come after you like that."

Harry lazily shrugs his shoulders and looks back down at his camera, feeling too overwhelmed with Louis' emotions. "No worries," he mumbles. 

"I actually did want to see you, though. I thought you might make me laugh or something."

Harry's eyes widen at the revelation, and he feels his cheeks flushing pink. He starts to smile with no control, but he tries to hide it by pushing a stray piece of hair behind his ear. Once he feels the wave of endearment pass through him, he finally looks at Louis again. "What did your coach say?" he wonders. 

"He doesn't want me in another scandal," Louis huffs, annoyed. "He doesn't know it's you, otherwise, I probably would have gotten more than just my ass chewed," he then jokes, turning to look at Harry. "To be honest, I didn't listen too much. He just gets mad when my name finds its way into the tabloids because nothing ever good comes from it."

Harry looks at Louis thoughtfully for a couple of seconds and really takes in his new facial features. Before, Louis looked so angry that Harry had no will inside of him to actually look into his eyes, but now, after they have talked for a little bit, Louis has gone completely soft. His blue eyes are shimmering underneath the dim tunnel light, and his lips are pulled into a small smile that is making Harry's heart flutter. Louis is looking back at Harry like he is the key to all things happiness and sunshine, and Harry has to tear his gaze away to not let him get too caught up in it. 

"It won't happen again," Harry quickly replies, turning to glance at the pitch. "Sorry."

"Dot be sorry, silly," Louis laughs, and it sounds like a breath of fresh air for Harry, and Harry hates it. "It was fun. You met my sisters and they loved you."

Harry swallows down everything inside of him fighting to be endeared by Louis and instead covers it all with a cough. He turns back to Louis and is reminded that the same day he met Louis' sisters is the same day he let that cashier flaunt her breast in front of them. The memory is enough to send Harry back into his distasteful feelings towards Louis, and he's once again reminded that Louis Tomlinson is not someone he genuinely wants around himself. 

"You should probably get back to your team," Harry suggests to change the subject, Louis raising his eyebrows at the sudden change. "You have a game, remember?"

"Right," Louis hums. 

He stands up from the bench, gives Harry another smile, and is then walking back down the tunnel to head into the locker room again. Once he's gone, Harry is able to finally breathe again. 

**///**

Football gives Louis a thrill, it always has. The adrenaline that gets pumped through his veins every time he steps out onto the pitch is such an addicting feeling for him. He loves the game. He loves the competition. He loves the challenge of trying to be the best person out on the field, and he loves when he proves it every time. He loves how football can be his outlet as well. Despite all the bullshit that goes on in his life, football has always been the one thing that can bring Louis back to himself. Louis is free when he plays, and he has his dad to thank for that. Another thing Louis loves to see is the fans. The fans give him the drive to do amazing, and his will to win every game always lies within his fans. He loves the posters that he sees, loves the families that spend their time together at the stadium, and he loves looking at the young footballers eagerly watching and rooting for their favorite idol. It's inspiring to Louis. There are times when Louis wants to believe his mother is somewhere in the stands as well, along with his sisters, but he's often too scared to ever check because he's afraid of what he will not see. Instead, he likes to look off to the side where a cute, curly headed boy is taking pictures. 

Louis hates to admit it to himself, but he has grown quite fond of Harry, especially getting to see him on the sidelines for games and practices. It's kind of nice every now and then to take a break from the game to see what he is up to. Like now, after a play has just ran on the field, Louis takes a second to catch his breath off to the side. He looks up and realizes Harry is already looking at him, and they make quick eye contact with one another before Harry is shyly ducking away with a blush. 

Okay, he's _adorable_ Louis thinks to himself. 

"Louis!" Leevi suddenly calls out from across the pitch. He waves his arms in the air to grasp Louis' attention, and when Louis finally focuses in on the game, he realizes the ball is back in their possession. 

Leevi currently has the ball and is rushing it past the other opponents defender. Louis realizes that Leevi called his name because he is completely unguarded, a stupid mistake any team could ever make on the field. He quickly zooms past a couple of players until he has a clear shot for the goal, and he begins waving his arms in Leevi's direction to let him know that he's ready for the ball. Leevi has to spin around a player before he's kicking the ball in between their legs. Louis quickly gets the ball under his control and runs a couple of steps before he's rearing his leg back and shooting the ball in the top left corner of the net, barely brushing past the fingers of the goalie. 

There is a mini celebration when the announcer yells out a long goal, and Louis quickly runs around in a circle with his arms spread out like an airplane. Harry giggles at his movement and ends up snapping the camera rapidly in his hold, watching as Louis heads for the corner of the field, patting his heart three times, kissing his hand, and then pointing it up at the sky. Harry lowers his camera after he gets the shot and stares at the back of Louis for a second. He's seen quite a few post-goal celebrations before, but there is something about Louis' that seems meaningful. It makes Harry wonder, makes him think behind the purpose of Louis pointing to the sky, but he ignores it for now in favor of taking more pictures of the team. 

Ronni runs up to Louis after the initial celebration of his goal passes and jumps on his back. "Nice shot, mate," he congratulates, ruffling Louis' hair up. 

The game moves along after that, and Louis quickly chances a glance at Harry to see if he saw his goal or not. Louis isn't entirely sure what he is expecting when he looks at the boy, but there is hope blooming inside of him that Harry would be proud or show some sort of emotion after the goal he just made. Louis really doesn't know, but when he does see Harry, the boy is back to his camera taking some more pictures so Louis figures it will have to be something he asks him once the game is over. Louis focuses back to the field and joins his teammates for the next play. They don't make another goal during the game, and they end up winning 1-0. Of course it makes Louis feel extra cocky knowing that he is the only one who made a goal that game, and he brings this cockiness over with him when he seeks out Harry after the game is done. 

He sees Harry in the corner packing up his supplies and quickly jogs over to join in. "How'd you like the game?" Louis asks upon arrival. 

"Oh," Harry startles at his approach, setting his bag on the ground and turning towards Louis. "You guys won so, that's good?" 

Louis purses his lips at the hesitance in Harry's voice. He never understood why Harry acts so nervous around him or why he never seemed too sure about what to say

"Well, did you see my goal then?" Louis asks instead, coming off a little too strong and overly confident that it makes Harry snort in response. 

"It wasn't _that_ hard to miss."

Louis frowns at the bitter tone Harry uses and watches as he goes back to packing his things up. Louis huffs in annoyance and pulls Harry away from his camera supplies so he doesn't have that to distract him anymore.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Louis nearly growls, sounding defensive.

Harry doesn't bother this time to push. Instead, he grabs his camera from its pouch and holds it up for Louis. "I got the shot on camera," he replies, sounding much calmer than what he was feeling inside. 

Louis raises his eyebrows and reaches for the camera carefully. He starts on the photo Harry left on the screen and then starts to flip through the next few. Louis finds himself smiling as he sees his shot frame by frame, amazed that Harry was able to get every second of him kicking the ball into the goal. 

"I got your little post goal celebration, too," Harry admits after a second, chewing on his bottom lip while he anxiously waits for Louis to get to those sets of pictures. Once he does, Louis' smile continues to grow. 

"Wow," Louis breathes out, tracing his free finger over the screen where he sees himself pointing up at the sky. "This is amazing," he praises, finally handing the camera back to Harry with a sigh. "Thanks for taking a picture of it, really."

Harry swallows nervously. "Yeah, of course." He blinks a couple of times and goes back to fumbling with the camera in his hands. "It's my job," he shrugs lazily. 

Louis hums. "True, but no one has bothered to take a picture of my after goal stuff. If anything, I get a lot of shit because of it."

"Really?" Harry wonders with a frown, pouting. "How come? Everyone has their own little thing."

Louis shrugs his shoulders, laughing bitterly as he runs his hands through his sweaty fringe. "The whole pointing up to the sky is what gets people."

"Why do you point then?"

Louis' lips then curve into a cheeky smile. "Maybe that's a conversation we can save for another time."

Harry widens his eyes at the suddenness and takes a step back. "Oh," he mutters under his breath, blinking away from Louis to look at the now empty football pitch. Harry really isn't sure how to necessarily respond to this. He is still so indecisive on who he wants Louis to be, but there are times, like right now, where Harry doesn't necessarily mind spending his day with Louis. It is nice when Harry gets to see the soft side of Louis, especially when Harry chances a glance at him again and sees a hopeful smile on his face. 

Harry's heart instantly flutters at the sight. 

"Sure," Harry settles with, placing his free hand on his stomach. 

Louis bites his lip and claps his hands together. "Brilliant."

The two of them start to walk back into the tunnels once Harry has his bag packed with his camera supplies. They walk side by side in silence until they are reaching the locker room doors. Louis seems hesitant to actually go inside and leave Harry. He keeps lingering around the door and casually looking at various parts of Harry's body until Harry finally gets enough courage to speak up. 

"So, your sisters," Harry manages to say, causing Louis to actually look at his face. "I wouldn't mind seeing them again. They were adorable."

Louis feels his entire body soften at the thought. "Of course. They loved you," Louis admits, seeing Harry blush. Louis shakes his head from thinking too much about it and starts to reach for the locker door. "They're actually here, I believe. Zayn, my PR, should be watching them. We can go see them after I freshen up."

"I'll be outside waiting," Harry cheers excitedly. 

Harry starts to walk backwards towards the exit to the stadium. Louis remains at the locker room door with a smile on his face as he watches the boy turn around to exit out the door. Louis shakes his head fondly when Harry glances one last time at Louis before he is completely disappearing outside. Louis lets out a breathy laugh once he is alone and slumps against the wall, running his hands down the sides of his face and wondering what the hell he is getting himself into. Louis is about to spend the rest of his day with Harry and his twin sisters, and the thought alone is enough to send palpitations to his heart. 

Yeah, this boy already has Louis fucked.

**///**

Daisy takes in one big breath and quickly counts, "1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.100." 

Harry giggles where he is sitting on the park bench. He has Daisy sitting next to him while Phoebe is off running around in the children playground, and Louis is somewhere chasing her around. They decided to go to Hyde Park after the game because it is the closest thing around that allows the twins to be free. In the midst of their time at the park, Daisy somehow was able to drag Harry with her to sit on the bench so she can show off her ability to count. It is as amusing as it is endearing for Harry, and he just doesn't have it in him to tell her she messed up her numbers.

She at least got the first ten correct. 

"I think you need about ninety more numbers, Dais," Harry settles with a smile, ruffling up Daisy's hair where it is falling over her shoulders. Daisy squeals when her perfect locks get messy, and she has to pull back with a giggle so Harry's hand will fall from her head. 

"I don't do ninety," Daisy complains, pouting her lips. "I said 8, 9, 10, Hazzy. There's no ninety there."

Harry giggles again as Daisy starts to scowl at him. She genuinely doesn't understand what she did wrong with her counting or why Harry finds it funny, but it only makes Harry laugh some more. Daisy is adorable when she's pouting, and just like every other six year old Harry has met, she thinks she's right. It's cute, but, it possibly can't be as cute as Louis chasing Phoebe across the yard and heading right to where the two of them are sitting. Harry turns to watch him and feels his heart completely melt at the sight. He has to refrain himself from smiling too widely and staring too much by glancing at Phoebe instead, but it's impossibly harder when Louis leaps forward and swoops Phoebe in his arms. 

"I finally caught the monster," Louis cheers, shaking Phoebe in his arms as he prances over towards the bench.

Phoebe starts laughing hysterically on their way over. She tries to wiggle herself free from Louis' hold, but Louis retaliates by dipping her over and pretending like he is about to drop her. Harry finds himself smiling as he continues to watch them, now accidentally ignoring Daisy and some wild story she had been telling for the past couple of minutes. When Louis and Phoebe are finally close enough to the two of them, Daisy stops talking and looks up at Louis. She furrows her eyebrows together at the way Phoebe is practically thrown over Louis' shoulder so she stands up on the bench and starts to climb up Louis' free arm. 

"Achoo, you're being bad," Daisy scolds. 

Louis laughs as Daisy continues to try to climb him, but all she really manages to do is lazily scratch at his arm. Harry is so endeared he might combust. 

"Am I?" Louis teases, tilting his head to look at Daisy. "Because I think ... you're being bad." Louis quickly winds his free arm around Daisy's body and lifts her from the bench. She lets out a loud squeal, and he starts spinning both twins in his arms. He alternates tickling each one to the best of his ability and pretending to bite at their neck. It leaves both Daisy and Phoebe in a laughing hysterical mess, and Harry is so mesmerize at watching Louis that he doesn't even realize he's being called for help until Louis looks expectedly at him. 

"Hazzy, Hazzy, help me," Daisy cries out with a giggle, her hand reaching out for Harry to take. 

Harry snaps his head out of staring at Louis and turns to look at Daisy. "Don't worry, little one. I'll rescue you." Harry stands on his feet and ends up reaching forward to pull Daisy out of Louis' hold. Once she's in his arms, Daisy immediately cuddles up against Harry's chest and sticks her tongue out towards her brother. 

"Hey," Louis whines, glancing at Harry with a playful frown. "You stole my sister from me."

Harry shrugs his shoulders and just holds on to Daisy tighter. Phoebe, on the other hand, seems to like what her sister did because she is slowly trying to wiggle her way out of Louis' hold. Louis ends up letting her go so she can stand on the floor, and she quickly rushes over to Harry's leg once she breaks free from her brother. Harry's eyes widen when he feels Phoebe wrapping around his leg and holding on to him like a koala bear. He looks down at her and starts giggling when her bright blue eyes are staring widely up at him. Harry then turns back to Louis and notices that he's pouting, but even behind the pout, Harry can see the smile that is threatening to form. It makes his stomach flutter with so many butterflies that he has to distract himself from Louis by looking down at Phoebe again. He can only take so much from Louis before he feels his heart nearly burst from his chest. 

_This_ is the Louis Tomlinson that Harry enjoys. This is the Louis Tomlinson that Harry can't get out of his head. _This is the real Louis Tomlinson._

"Achoo, you tickle my sides so much. I'm itchy now," Phoebe says after a few minutes, scratching at her sides where her apparent itchiness is. 

Louis finally cracks a true smile, laughing as he does so. "That's quite odd. Are you sure you're not itchy because you stink?"

Harry giggles as he brings his free hand down to pat at Phoebe's head. "They smell lovely," he defends, flicking his eyes up at Louis and squinting them. "I think it's you who smells."

Daisy and Phoebe break into another fit of giggles, and Harry has to put Daisy down on her feet when she starts to squirm too much. The two of them end up going over to the playground when the wave of the tickle fest has subsided. They leave hand in hand and go straight towards the slide. Louis and Harry remain where they are and sit down on the bench to watch the two of them play. After a couple of minutes of silence, of just the two of them enjoying Daisy and Phoebe running around crazily, Harry turns to look at Louis. 

"Thanks for letting me join you today."

Louis' lips curve up instantly. "Of course. The twins were excited when I told them you were coming." 

Harry blushes when Louis turns to look at him, the same look that always makes his insides feel all jittery. He has to turn his face away and look at anything else so no irrational thoughts enter his head. Harry can barely stand the butterflies he constantly feels, but he can't let it get more than that. After hearing the rumors this morning about the two of them and their ice cream run, Harry really doesn't want anyone, not even himself, to think there is anything going on between the two of them. They're just acquaintances, maybe friends, and Harry really tries to convince himself that it's normal for two friends to go get ice cream together and hang out with younger siblings. 

"I bet the rumors will get better after today, huh?" Harry finally says, frowning when he sees a couple of teenage girls from across the street staring right at the two of them. Harry cowers a little bit and tries to hide his face behind his hair. 

Louis notices and frowns. "Im really sorry about that and about earlier. Personally, I don't care what people think about us. I know it seemed like I did in the tunnels, but I was more pissed about Coach and the fact that people were trying to get you in the tabloids. I hate the media."

"It's fine," Harry sighs, glancing away from the teenage girls to look back at Louis. Maybe if he ignores their presence, he can ignore the fact that more rumors are going to start. "It happens," he shrugs. 

They are interrupted when Harry's phone buzzes with a message. He quickly pulls it out and sees that his mom is texting him to come home for dinner. Harry lets out a sigh and feels a part of him wanting to stay here with Louis and the twins, mainly with Louis, but he also knows it's very rare that he gets to spend time with his mother. It's been something he's wanted for awhile, and Harry doesn't even think Louis is enough to keep him from spending time with her. 

"I gotta go," Harry admits after replying to his mother. He glances at Louis and gives him an apologetic smile. "Mum wants me home."

Harry stands up from the bench with Louis following. "Thanks for coming," Louis offers with a smile, casually walking Harry over to the sidewalk, almost like he was trying to spend every last second with him before he has to leave. "The twins had fun with you. I'm sure they'll sleep great tonight."

"No problem."

Harry gives Louis one last smile before he is leaving him. He turns to walk down the sidewalk while Louis stands there for a couple of minutes watching him. He stays there until Harry has made a turn down the street and disappeared from his eyesight. He doesn't even realize he has been watching Harry off until there is a tug on the bottom of his shirt. Louis nearly startles at the touch and quickly looks down to see who it was, easing up when he notices it's just Phoebe.

"Achoo, is Hazzy your love?" She asks so innocently. 

Louis lets out a nervous laugh and crouches down to her level. "No, munchkin," he answers with a hesitant smile, trying to cover it up by ruffling her hair. 

"I like him."

And well... maybe that's something her and Louis both have in common then.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has some more of Louis' POV. I know the story is kind of slow right now, but I'm just trying to get the basis of their relationship started. It's supposed to be this complicated before they actually get together. I want them to actually develop a friendship/foundation before they start to date.
> 
> Also, there is mention of drugs at the beginning of the chapter. It's just Zayn and Louis have a "Happy Days" moment.

Louis and Zayn are walking back from the convenient store when Zayn finally asks, "When are you going on a date with lover boy?"

Louis huffs at the question as he walks through the front door to his flat, heading straight towards the bedroom to blatantly not correct Zayn's choice of words. He tosses the bag of toiletries they just bought on his bed and walks into the closet to start looking through his hung clothes. "It's not a date," he grumbles lowly.

He continues to flick through the rack of clothings until Louis finds his row of uniforms. He reaches up on his tip toes to pull a duffle bag down from the top shelf and tosses it on the ground so he can begin pulling uniforms off the hangers to stuff inside the bag. Zayn opts to stay in Louis' bedroom and moves to sit on the edge of the bed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and mumbling a soft "Bullshit" that he doesn't think Louis hears.

Louis does, and he rolls his eyes while he continues to pack his bag in silence.

"What game are you trying to play with this boy, Louis?" Zayn then presses louder, setting his phone next to him and tilting his body to the side so he can see Louis through the closet door. "I know you don't have a heart and you're an evil little troll, but c'mon, mate, he's just a kid."

Louis rolls his eyes again and picks up his duffle bag from the ground before he is walking back into his bedroom. He hardens his eyes at Zayn and walks to sit in the arm chair in front of the boy. "Why are you fucking bugging me about it?" Louis snaps, feeling a small surge of anger course through his body. "What do Harry and I have to do with you? Mind your business."

"I know who you are," Zayn mindlessly says as he reaches towards the nightstand. He opens the top drawer and pulls out a bag of stash and a flat cigar sheet.

Louis hums thoughtfully while he watches Zayn start to roll a blunt. "You know who I am?" he frowns, glancing up at Zayn to see that he is already looking back. "What could you possibly mean by that?"

Zayn lifts an eyebrow and wraps his lips around the end of the blunt once it's rolled, breathing it in slowly before handing it over to Louis. "You're an arse," he says as he blows the smoke out. "You never do anything without some sort of ulterior motive."

"Please," Louis scoffs indignantly. He takes a drag himself and blows his smoke right in Zayn's face, smirking when Zayn starts to cough. "You know nothing about me," He continues, taking another drag and giving the blunt back to Zayn.

"Really, Lou?" Zayn huffs, frowning some more. "It's been five years. I know you enough to know that you're playing this boy." Zayn begins shaking his head and takes a longer drag this time. "He's sixteen, Lou," Zayn reminds.

Louis sits in the chair in silence as he presses the blunt to his lips. He looks past Zayn to stare at the wall behind him and frowns while the smoke he inhales starts to burn his lungs. He isn't really sure why Zayn has been so concerned with him when it came to Harry - even Liam. The two of them always see the worse in Louis and think he has his life goals set on hurting that young boy when that isn't the case at all. Louis isn't entirely sure what his ideas are when it comes to Harry, but he knows for sure he isn't set out to ruin Harry's life.

"Well, nothing is happening," Louis admits after a moment, coughing when the smoke he inhales is too much. He grimaces and hands the blunt back to Zayn. "Matt wants to take individual pictures today for our banners. I have mine scheduled today, which, I'm surprised you didn't know about. Aren't you supposed to be my PA?"

Zayn laughs humorlessly. "Alright, Ha - Ha," he grumbles, ignoring Louis' snarky smirk in favor of his phone that starts buzzing next to him. He picks it up to read the messages while Louis stands up from the chair.

"I'm going to head out," Louis announces. He reaches for his duffle bag and tosses it over his shoulder before he is walking over to his mirror. He frowns when he sees his eyes are slightly red and knows that he must smell like marijuana, but he figures if pictures are the only thing he is doing today, then he shouldn't care too much about he looks. With a shrug, Louis turns back to Zayn, smirking when he sees that Zayn is smiling like a fool down at his phone. "Ooh," he coos, stepping forward to ruffle Zayn's hair. "Is this a Gigi Hadid booty call?"

Gigi Hadid is Louis' stylist, has been ever since Louis was called up in the academy to play for Chelsea. She's been the main source of Louis' looks for any public appearances, award shows, team dinners, and anything that requires Louis to dress up past his track suits. So over the years, Zayn and Gigi had developed a rather interesting relationship that Louis loves to meddle in. Gigi and Zayn started out as friends, everything casual, but then one night, Louis noticed a change. Zayn and Gigi started to constantly talk to one another - flirted all the time - sometimes would meet up outside of Louis' scheduled appointments so of course Louis liked to tease the two of them of having a secret relationship behind his back.

Zayn grumbles at the comment and opts to ignore it. He lazily slaps Louis' hand away and rests the blunt between his lips while he grabs a throw pillow off the bed. He chunks it in Louis' direction where he is quickly scurrying his way out the bedroom door. Louis laughs loudly when he deflects the throw and hears the pillow hit up the door he just closed before he starts rushing out his flat. He was already supposed to be at the stadium for the pictures, but now, he has to actually book his ass to get there at a relatively decent time before Harry lectures him, or worse, gives him the silent treatment.

Right when Louis walks into the stadium, he sees Harry sitting on the far bench across the pitch with a pout on his face. Louis grimaces as he makes his appearance known.

"You're late," Harry notes, removing his hand from his chin to check his watch. He huffs and stands from the bench, walking over to the camera stand.

"I was busy."

Louis walks closer to Harry, and the second there within a few feet of each other, Harry grimaces. "You got busy getting high?" he complains, covering his nose with a groan.

"I'm not high, curly," Louis teases as he walks closer to Harry, grinning when Harry takes a step back, nose plugged and looking absolutely repulsed. "I only took a few hits - my eyes aren't _that_ red. I'm fine."

Harry raises his eyebrows, unamused, and watches Louis get even closer. He scrunches his nose when Louis presses his fingers to the top of his eyelids to open them up some more. Harry huffs as Louis bends closer just to prove that his eyes are not red, but Harry isn't in the mood for games, and there is some redness to the white of Louis' eye that Harry doesn't have the energy to argue with, and now Harry knows he's going to have to work on editing that out.

"I get it, okay?" Harry huffs after awhile, pushing Louis back with a hand to his chest. "You smell. Just go change into your home game uniforms and spray _something_ to cover it up. Sheesh."

Louis relaxes and starts to laugh. "Okay. I'll be back, curly," he calls out on his way towards the locker room.

Harry shakes his head when Louis heads off, and he turns back to the camera just to give himself something to do. Louis reaches towards the tunnels after he hits a quick jog and turns around to look at Harry one more time before disappearing. Louis smiles to himself while he watches Harry for a bit, feeling his heart starting to pick up speed from watching Harry simply doing nothing other than fumbling around with the camera and lights. It's hard for Louis to not look Harry, especially when he's walking around in his cute purple jumper, glowing from doing something that he enjoys. Even the ridiculous fedora on top of Harry's head of curls is adorable, and even from afar, Louis can faintly see the chipped blue paint on Harry's nails that makes Louis feel more proud than he's ever felt.

"He's cute," Louis whispers to himself, chewing on his bottom lip and finally turning into the tunnel to head towards the locker room.

Louis takes a couple of minutes to freshen himself up. He tries to spray away the smell of his weed, and he splashes water on his face to make him not look so _high._ He then quickly changes into the uniform Harry asked for and rushes back out onto the pitch to see Harry is exactly where Louis left him. Louis smirks and walks up to him, smiling sheepishly when Harry raises his eyebrow at his appearance.

"Okay," Harry breathes, tucking a curl under his hat. "Stand in the middle of the field and maybe _uh_ \- maybe tuck the football under your arm and then have your other arm hang freely."

Louis nods his head and walks to get into position. "Good idea," he praises.

Harry nibbles on his bottom lip and smiles shyly at the compliment. "Thank you," he blushes. He waits until Louis is in the exact pose that he asked for and takes a couple of test shots. He looks at them, nods his head, and then deletes the pictures when he realizes the settings are perfect. "I'm going to try a couple different poses and then go over them with Matt."

Louis nods his head and remains in position. He keeps a serious look on his face as he hears the shuttering click of the camera go off a couple of times, and by the last shot, Louis feels his lips slowly starting to curl up from how cute Harry looks when he's focused on taking pictures. Harry pulls back when he realizes Louis serious look is now replaced with a happy, smiling one, and he tries to ignore it in favor of moving on to the next pose.

"Okay, now turn around -"

"If you want to look at my ass, all you had to do was ask," Louis immediately teases. "I can give a good show."

Harry blushes and quickly looks down at his camera, coughing nervously and trying not to let Louis' words get to him too much. Louis smirks as he moves the ball from under his arm.

"I want to get a number shot," Harry finally says, blinking up at Louis. "So turn around and put the ball on the floor. Maybe put your cleat on top of it." Louis does as he's told and turns around, getting into the new position Harry asked for. "Okay, put your opposite arm on your hip -" Louis follows "- Okay, just look straight ahead for a few, and then look to the side for a few."

Louis does both positions for Harry and listens for the camera to start clicking. After Harry gets the shots that he wants, Louis deflates a little and turns to look at Harry for the next set of instructions.

"Now just play with the football - like, kick it around and juggle it."

Louis raises his eyebrow, getting his foot under the ball. "I like this side of you," he notes, smirking. "Very bossy."

Harry blows a big breath of air past his lips and laughs a little, shaking his head and going back to his camera. "I'm just passionate about photography," he admits shyly, glancing at Louis again and seeing a smile on his face. "It's weird, I know. I can't explain it."

"It's not weird, Haz."

Harry's eyes widen. "Haz?" he questions, feeling his neck flush at the new nickname.

"I like it," Louis shrugs. He smiles cheekily and kicks the ball in the air before catching it with his knee. "Get to clicking, Haz."

Louis starts to fumble the ball between his legs and listens as Harry starts to take a bunch of shots of him doing so. They do this for about ten minutes before Harry's camera is filled with a bunch of action shots of him playing with the ball. Once Harry feels like he has enough of that, he pulls back while Louis lets the ball fall on the ground.

"Do you have any specific shots that you want?" Harry then questions. "I know some of the players had a preference."

Louis hums thoughtfully, mindlessly rolling the ball under his foot. "I can lay on the ground like a happy little school girl?"

Harry giggles at the suggestion, and Louis instantly feels so warm inside from the sweet sound that he has to distract himself by bending down to pick the ball off the ground.

"Be serious, Lou."

Louis sighs, settling on a soft smile as he walks closer to Harry. "I don't have any," he whispers. He shifts the ball under his arm while Harry starts to slowly take his photography station down. Louis watches for a few seconds before he begins to help. "I think you had good ideas."

Harry blushes at the compliment, whispering a soft "Thanks" as he grabs the reflector Louis gives him.

"So are you done for the day?"

"Yeah, I'm done with all the pictures actually," Harry responds. Louis smiles and heads towards the camera stand to fold it up. "I have to meet up with Matt and choose which ones he wants to be hung around the stadium. Hopefully, it gets done by the end of the year."

Louis responds with a soft hum and continues to help Harry. There isn't much that Harry used, but he had a couple of light stands that needed to be folded up and his camera packed into its bag, which didn't take entirely too long. Once everything is taken down, Harry walks over to the player bench off to the side and sits on it so he can carefully put his camera away. Louis smiles and walks over to join in.

"You want lunch?" He wonders, asking casually.

Harry looks up and widens his eyes. "Oh," he hesitates, licking his lips before looking back at his camera again, idly running his fingers down the sides of it. "Y-yeah. I guess."

Louis snorts. "Please, contain your excitement," he teases, standing from the bench. "Let me go change, and I'll meet you by my car. It's the black Porsche outside."

Harry nods and continues to pack everything. While Louis goes to freshen up, Harry grabs the photography equipment and brings it back into Matt's office. He keeps his camera duffle slung around his shoulder and walks out the back tunnel to head outside. He sees Louis' car is the only one there so he walks over to it and waits by leaning against the passenger door. Louis comes out shortly after with the clothes he originally wore and meets Harry at the car. He unlocks the trunk and tosses his bag of clothes in and carefully takes Harry's camera bag from him so he can put it back there as well. He then closes the trunk and walks over to open the passenger door for Harry and smiles when he gets inside. Harry blushes as he takes a seat, pulling the car door close and watching Louis jog around the hood of the car to get on his side quickly. Once he is, he turns the car on and cranks the heater up.

"Thank you," Harry finally says once they are situated.

Louis nods and begins pulling out the car park.

"So, hows school?" Louis asks in the midst of the drive, moving a hand off the steering wheel so he can rest it on the gear, itching to have it just a couple inches closer to the curly headed boy.

Harry hums thoughtfully. "I'd say I'm pretty good in all my classes. It's probably why I'm graduating soon," Harry laughs nervously, glancing out the window while Louis smiles. "Except, French. It's currently not my favorite. If I could, I would just take photography all day."

"What's wrong with french?" Louis frowns.

"It's hard learning a language, and I just had to take it in order to graduate."

"Well, if you ever need help," Louis shrugs. "You can call me. I'm nearly fluent."

Harry lifts his eyebrow, turning his head to look at Louis. "Nearly fluent?" he questions, laughing a little. "What does that mean?"

"It means I know it pretty well. Grew up speaking it with my Nan, but I still struggle with some words."

"Really?" Harry wonders in awe.

" _Oui, amour,_ " Louis smiles. " _Je parle bien le français_."

Harry laughs. "That's amazing."

"It helps when you're part French."

"I suppose so," Harry agrees with a sigh, soon turning back to the window of the car and looking out it again. He frowns. "That's the class I have with Tanner," he admits under his breath.

Louis visibly tenses when he hears the name, remembering so clearly the day he saw the bruise that formed on Harry's chin from a punch Tanner sent his way. Just the simple memory alone is already making Louis' blood boil. He can feel his eyes hardening from where they are focused on the road in front of him. His hands tightens on the wheel, and the small movement is enough for Harry to notice. Harry tilts his head to the side just a little bit and sees Louis' knuckles turning white, and when he glances up at Louis' face, he can see his jaw tighten.

Harry lets out a shaky breath. "Maybe I can have your number incase I need any help with French," Harry suggest, hoping it will be enough to calm Louis down.

It does. Louis immediately relaxes and quickly glances at Harry with a small smile forming on his lips.

"Yeah, that'll be good," he says softly, looking brighter and happier than he did just moments ago. Harry raises his eyebrow at the sudden change in Louis' emotions and watches Louis carefully as he grabs his phone to hand over to Harry. "I'm a great tutor - _Je suit un bon tuteur_."

Harry giggles under his breath and focuses on putting his number in Louis' phone. "Thank you."

" _De Rien_."

Harry shakes his head and puts Louis' phone back into the cup holder. "So tutor boy," Harry says after a moment, relaxing in his seat and wrapping his arms around his stomach, getting more comfortable . "I have my first question."

"Alrighty, what is it?"

"It's about verb tenses," Harry informs, seeing Louis nod. "So which goes. _Tu_ blank _une jolie robe demain_ . The options are, _as, avais, auras, eus."_

Without a second thought, Louis answers " _auras._ " Harry hums. "It's talking about the future so _auras_ would be the correct one to use."

Harry scoffs bitterly and slumps in the car seat. "I freaking knew it."

"What?" Louis questions, raising his eyebrow curiously and laughing softly when he sees Harry acting pouty and cute. Louis shakes his head and _has_ to look away from him otherwise his heart might literally burst out of his chest. Harry's just too damn cute for his own good.

"Tanner argued with me about that question, and said I was wrong, but I knew I was right."

"He's an idiot, Haz," Louis quickly reassures, not bothering to think too much about Tanner. He really isn't in the mood to get in a _mood_ again. "Just don't doubt yourself, Harry. You're smart."

Harry blushes, again. "Well, thank you," he whispers coyly, tucking a curl under his fedora and glancing at the side of Louis' face, seeing him smirk. "You speak French good. I - _uh_ \- I like it."

" _Merci_." Louis bites his lips and briefly looks at Harry, smirking some more when Harry quickly looks away from being caught staring. "Anyway, Zayn is going to meet up with us for lunch. I can't really do much without him so I hope that is fine."

Louis pulls up to a sub shop and parks the car. Harry takes his seatbelt off and shrugs his shoulders in response. "It's no problem."

The two of them get out the car and walks towards the door. Louis holds the door open for Harry and follows him inside to the front of the line. Louis orders first, and when Harry thinks that Louis is going to move on to pay for his sub, he ends up turning to Harry with a raised eyebrow, seemingly expecting something.

"What do you want?" He questions. Harry raises his eyebrow in confusion. "It's on me. I asked you to come, remember?"

Harry feels his lips curving up, and he turns to the worker to see hime looking curiously between them. "I'll take the turkey," he orders, ignoring the looks coming from the worker and following Louis down the line to the register. Louis pays for the both of them while Harry grabs the drink cups to fill with soda. He meets Louis at a corner booth and slides into the spot across from him while Louis places their sandwiches on top of the table. Once they are settled, the two begin eating.

"So," Harry hums, toying around with the chips in the basket. "Your birthday is coming up," he reminds Louis conversationally, grabbing his drink and taking a sip of it.

Louis smiles. "The twenty fourth, actually."

"Christmas miracle." Harry looks up and sees Louis looking directly at him, his bright blue eyes gazing into his own green ones like Harry is the most amazing person he has ever seen. Harry blushes and glances at his food again, coughing when he feels his heart quickening in his chest. "Anyway," Harry hums, flicking his eyes back to Louis. "Can we go over some French words? I can use some practice. I have an exam coming up."

Louis takes a large bite out his sandwich and sets it down, clapping his hands together. "Sounds perfect," he agrees, reaching for some chips. "How about you greet yourself in French?"

"Okay," Harry breathes, biting his lip. "Just don't make fun of my accent." Louis nods, promising. " _Mon nom est Harry._ "

Louis covers his mouth when he feels a laugh threatening to come out, and he tries hiding it by a cough. Harry glares at him playfully, but it's hard for Louis not to judge Harry's french accent when he has his own family who's fluent in French. "It wasn't bad," Louis reassure, wiping his hand down the side of his face. "You sounded horrid, but well - it wasn't bad."

Harry huffs. "I told you I wasn't the best at it," he pouts.

Louis starts smiling even more when he sees the cute pout set on Harry's pink lips, and he cant help but lean over the table to push his lips into a smile. " _Tu ressembles à une grenouille_."

Harry pulls his face back with a frown. "Why do I feel like that wasn't a compliment."

"I just said you looked like a frog," Louis teases, bringing his hands back to his own space and reaching for his sandwich again.

Harry falls back against the cushion of the booth with a giggle and lazily tosses a chip in Louis' direction. Louis catches it easily with his hands and pops it into his mouth. The bell to the subway shot then chimes, and Harry glances over Louis' head to look at the person who walks in. His eyes widen when he catches Louis' friend that he remembered seeing at the bakery awhile ago - Zayn, whom Harry assumes. He walks over to where the two of them are sitting, Louis looking up at his approach with a bright smile.

"Zayn," He greets as he reaches out to pat at Zayn's shoulder, free hand motioning out to Harry. "Harry, this is Zayn. He is my personal assistant."

"Hi," Harry shyly replies.

Zayn slides into the booth next to Louis and immediately grabs a handful of chips to pop in his mouth. Louis scoffs loudly, and Harry giggles. "He's obviously a pain in my ass," Louis notes with a frown, slapping Zayn's hand away from his food.

"You're not much better," Zayn sasses back, slapping at Louis' hand in return to grab some more chips.

Louis rolls his eyes over to Harry. "He's mad that I pulled him away from my stylist, Gigi. They had a booty call while I came to take my pictures."

"Hey!" Zayn whines, slapping Louis again, causing Harry to giggle at the both of them when they start to lazily punch and slap at each other.

The door to the shop chimes again, but Harry is too distracted watching Louis and Zayn bicker with one another that he doesn't see a head of blonde hair coming his way. "Hazza?" the person says, and at the distinct sound of the Irish voice, Harry snaps his head in that direction.

"Niall?" Harry jumps, lips curving up into a laugh, scooting to the edge of the booth to draw Niall into a hug. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, I was coming to get some food for the fam, and - " Nialls' eyes mindlessly trail over to Louis when he realizes there are other bodies at the table, but when his eyes land on Zayn, he widens them in shock. "Zayn?" He questions surprisedly.

Zayn tilts his head in Niall's direction and laughs, surprised, and gets out the booth to bring Niall into a hug. "Holy fuck, Ni. I can't believe it's really you."

Harry raises his eyebrow in confusion when Niall and Zayn begin chatting up a storm catching up with one another, completely forgetting that Louis and Harry are still sitting at the table as well. Harry tries to ignore the jealously he feels stirring inside of him. He knows Niall has other friends besides himself, but seeing Niall constantly with them just reminds Harry that he doesn't have very many of his own. It makes Harry realize that he really is a loner with one friend, and it's kind of a sucky feeling to have when your only best friend is able to make other friends outside of their relationship.

Harry doesn't realize he is blatantly staring at Niall and Zayn until he feels a nudge against his shin. Harry jolts and looks at Louis. "You good?" he questions the boy.

"Oh, yeah," Harry replies, trying to brush his feelings aside by offering a weak smile.

Louis nods his head in return and looks over at Zayn and Niall again, raising his eyebrows. "So what the fuck is this?" he questions the two of them, interrupting their conversation.

"Zayn was my childhood best friend," Niall exclaims happily. He moves from Zayn's side and slides into the booth next to Harry while Zayn goes back to Louis' side.

"That's right," Zayn agrees. "We both lived in Bradford when we were kids for a couple of years. Our parents worked together, but mine ended up moving here to London while Niall's went back to Ireland."

Harry frowns. "I didn't know you lived in Bradford before Ireland," Harry mutters towards Niall, but Niall is too distracted from Zayn's appearance that he doesn't bother to respond to Harry. Harry huffs in annoyance.

"Im still so shocked," Niall breathes out. "I had no idea you were still in London when I moved here."

Harry rolls his eyes and glances down at his food, visibly pouting because he knows he's a needy friend and he doesn't like being ignored in front of everyone. He tries to not let it bother him, but Zayn and Niall are solely focused on each other so Harry starts twirling his fingers through his chips with a slouch in his back. Louis glances over at him and frowns, nudging his foot against Harry's shin again. Harry blinks up and smiles weakly, rolling his eyes over at Niall and shrugging lazily.

"I work for Louis now," Zayn explains to Niall, continuing their conversation. "What brings you here? How long have you been in London?"

"My dad's job moved him here when I was heading into Year 10. Shit, if I knew you were still in London I would've called you up sooner." Niall's still smiling like a fool as he grabs some of Harry's chips from his plate. Harry frowns and slaps at his hand playfully.

"Hey, stop that," he scolds.

Niall glances at him with a cheeky smile before he turns to look at Louis. "And well, I finally get to meet _the_ Louis Tomlinson who loves to tease my Hazza."

Harry groans at the nickname. "Niall," he complains.

"And you must be _the_ Niall who is apparently obsessed with me," Louis teased back, glancing at Harry and winking. Harry blushes and looks away, turning to Niall to see him frowning playfully.

"I told you that in confidence," Niall reminds Harry, grabbing Harry's entire plate of food as punishment and beginning to eat what is left.

Harry rolls his eyes. "You let Louis mess with me without tell me who he was. I think we're even."

"Touché."

"This is nice," Zayn says after a few moments, looking genuinely happy. "I missed you so much, Ni. It's great to see you. We should definitely all hang out some time."

Louis snorts. "Isn't that what we are doing right now?"

Harry giggles at the comment and causes Louis to quickly look his way. It's like no matter what Harry does, Louis' eye seem to nevrer be able to look anywhere else but at him. Harry notices again and ducks his head down to hide the blush he feels creeping up his neck. Niall notices and nudges Harry's leg playfully while Zayn elbows Louis to get him to stop staring.

"Okay, wanker," Zayn huffs. "I meant like outside of a subway shop - a proper hang out."

"I would be down," Niall agrees.

"With Liam of course," Zayn adds after a second

Louis' head twitches at the suggest. "Why does he have to be included?"

"Shut up, Lou," Zayn scolds, rolling his eyes and hitting Louis' arm again. "He's our best friend. Don't play yourself." Louis grumbles under his breath and childishly looks away. "Him and Liam have a love-hate relationship. It happens all the time," he then explains to Niall and Harry.

Louis ignores the comment and looks back at Harry. He nudges his foot against his shin again, and when Harry's green eyes flick his way, he smiles shyly. "Maybe next time we hang out, we'll have less people involved."

Harry blushes instantly at the thought. "Yeah, maybe," he agrees softly.

And well, Harry really doesn't know when the moment happened that made him want to actually hang out with Louis alone, but it's there, and now it's all he can think about as they sit there in the subway shop with Zayn and Niall. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 96 likes**

**NiallHoran:** Ran into an old mate !!

**ZaynMalik commented:** Missed u bud 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a quick, filler chapter. There is a bunch of those throughout the story, but I still tried to make them cute. Anywhooooooo, Louis and Harry's relationship is starting to pick up .........


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOooooooh, Harry and Louis are getting closer.

It's finally Winter hols, and Harry is excited for two things - one, he gets to spend time with Gemma since she's home from Uni, and two, he's nearly halfway done with his school time at Collingham. It's enough for Harry to feel giddy about, and he's more than ready to move on to the next chapter of his life, but since that is still months away, he settles on putting on a classic Christmas movie for the time being, perfectly content in wrapping himself up with a fuzzy blanket and warming his body with a cup of hot chocolate. The peacefulness, however, is interrupted when Gemma walks into the living room and plops on the couch next to Harry.

"Hey, baby bro." She arrives bearing a plate of cookies so Harry brightens up even more as he reaches for one off the plate. 

He takes a bite before he's relaxing against the cushion. "Hey, Gems," he greets. "How's school been for you?"

"So-so," she replies with a lazy shrug. She grabs a cookie of her own and then leans forward to put the plate on the coffee table in front of them. "I've been swamped with exams the past week, but I managed to survive. How's things between you and mum?"

Harry deflates a little in his spot. "Okay, I suppose." Harry sighs and takes a bite of his cookie, pouting a little. "She works a lot these days, and when she isn't, she's always around Robin. I mean, I'm happy she's happy, but like - I miss her, Gems."

"I'm sorry, bud," Gemma empathizes with a frown, hand reaching out to grab Harry's shoulder in a comforting way. Harry glances over at her and blows a breath past his lips. He hates when Gemma looks at him this way - like she pities him, and Harry has to tear his gaze away so he doesn't let Gemma's features bring him down anymore. "I do wish she wouldn't treat you this way. I know times have been hard, but I'm sure she'll move past it."

Harry snorts, bitterly, and rolls his eyes. "Get over what?" he huffs. "Me being gay, or me wanting to be a photographer?"

"Both," Gemma replies with a hesitant smile. Harry rolls his eyes again and bites his words away by eating his cookie. Gemma quietly laughs before she is moving to get off the couch. "Well, I hate to be short with you, but Chance wants to take me into town today."

Harry perks up. "Is this a potential boyfriend?"

"Not potential. He _is_ my boyfriend."

Harry gasps in shock, scooting to the edge of the couch. "For how long, Gems?"

Gemma laughs nervously and steps away from the couch, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking away from Harry's inquiring eyes. "Like a year?"

"Gemma?" Harry squawks. He quickly leans over the arm of the couch and playfully slaps at Gemma's arm. "I can't believe you've kept him a secret for this long."

She shrugs. "I've been busy," is her lame response, her phone ringing soon distracting her. She pulls it out of her pocket and smiles brightly once reading the screen. She begins mindlessly typing away, and Harry has to remind his presence by clearing his throat. Gemma's eyes widen and looks over at Harry again, offering him a weak smile. "Time to go."

Gemma leaves the living room with a skip in her step, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts and the rest of the movie he has playing on the television. Harry watches Gemma until she is out the front door, and then he is slumping back against the cushion of the couch with a breathy laugh - sometimes, Harry really can't believe his sister. He goes back to the movie playing when Gemma pulls her car out the driveway, ready to enjoy his peaceful day, but he's interrupted again when his own phone starts to ring. Harry huffs in annoyances and lifts up the right side of his body so he can reach for the phone in his back pocket, half expecting the caller to be Niall or his mother, but what he isn't expecting is the name that he sees. 

_Louis Tomlinson_

Harry presses the answer button and puts the phone to his ear slowly. "Hello?" he questions skeptically. 

There's a heady breath through the line before a shaky " _Harry_ " comes out. 

"Louis?"

There's silence on the line after he asks, and Harry has to pull his phone away to make sure the call is still on. He realizes it is and puts the phone back to his ear, now hearing Louis' heavy breathing right in his ear. Harry swallows nervously, but he doesn't press, suddenly feeling the hairs on his arm straightening up when Louis' voice cracks. 

" _Can you get to the stadium?_ " He questions urgently, gulping loudly on the line. " _Now?_ "

Harry raises his eyebrow at the small bite to Louis' tone and subconsciously wraps his free arm around his body. He isn't entirely sure how he wants to respond or if he even wants to see Louis if he happens to be in one of his confusing moods, but the sounds of his shaky breathing and the nervous gulps he's constantly doing does make Harry realize that something might not be right with the boy. 

Harry sighs quietly. "I don't know, Louis," he settles with, nervously fiddling with the seams of his shirt, chewing on his bottom lip as he glances out the closest window he can see. "You sound mad. Are you okay?"

" _I am_ ," he nearly yells, huffing, and then sighing. " _I mean, I don't know_ ," he continues, sounding conflicted with his own feelings. " _I just - can you get over here, please?"_

Harry agrees when he hears the desperation in Louis' voice and quickly lets him know that he'll be there soon. He hangs up the phone and picks up his mess in the living room before he's grabbing his jacket off the coat rack and walking out the front door. Since his mom is out with the car, and Harry quite literally does not have a driver's licenses, he ends up walking to the stadium in the cold. Harry's lucky the walk isn't too long otherwise he'd call a cab, but sometimes it's nice to enjoy the outside, and since he isn't entirely sure what he's about to walk in to, the fresh air is a nice little breather before the chaos he's about to witness. 

Harry flashes his pass when he gets to the back gates of the stadium and walks inside quickly. The arena is warmed up so he shucks his jacket and hangs it over his arm while he walks through the tunnels to get closer to the pitch. Once he finally steps foot on the turf, he looks out and sees Louis sitting down in the corner of the field, knees drawn up to his chest and face buried in his hands. Harry frowns and walks straight towards him. 

"Louis?" Harry questions carefully, slowing his steps down the closer he gets. Louis' skin looks hot, flushing red, and there's a vein popping out the right side of his neck that has Harry worried. He can also see the white of Louis' knuckles, squeezing on tightly to his biceps where his arms are crossed over one another, and Harry know it must be uncomfortable for Louis to sit like this so he crouches down to Louis' level and places a careful, gentle hand to Louis' back, feeling his body loosen up instantly. 

"Are you okay?" Harry asks next, swallowing nervously when Louis takes in a slow, steady breath. 

"I am now," he whispers under his breath, and Harry isn't entirely sure if he was supposed to hear that or not, but he did, and when Louis unveils his face from his hands, it instantly softens at the sight of Harry. 

Harry's stomach lurches when he sees every ounce of anger drain from Louis' body like the presence of him being there was the necessity Louis needed in order to relax. He isn't entirely sure how he feels about it, but his heart is beating faster, and he can feel his face heating up the longer Louis keeps looking at him. Harry coughs nervously and blinks away, plopping down on his bum and scooting next to Louis, distracting himself by playing with the wisps of turf. 

" _Um_ \- would you like to talk about it?" Harry questions after a second, nervously nibbling on his bottom lip. He doesn't realize his hand is still pressed on Louis' back until Louis lets out a big breath that causes his chest to expand. Harry isn't sure if he wants to remove it or not, but Louis hasn't complained about it, in fact, the way his now soft, blue eyes glance over to look at their point of contact is enough for Harry to keep his hands there. 

"I don't want to bother you about it."

Harry scoffs as he mindlessly begins rubbing his thumb across Louis' shoulder. "I wouldn't have came here if it was going to bother me. I want to help, if that's okay?"

"Okay," Louis echos. He closes his eyes for a brief second and tilts his head back against the walling of the field. He takes a couple of heavy breaths to help clear his mind, and then he is opening his eyes to look over at Harry. "It's about my dad."

Harry raises an eyebrow, scooting closer. "What happened?"

"He _uh_ \- he passed away." Harry's eyes widen in shock, and he's just about to start consoling Louis when Louis shakes his head. With another heavy breath, he continues. "On this day, seven years ago, he passed away," Louis clarifies, Harry relaxing slightly. "I was almost thirteen years old - just a few more weeks until my birthday when it happened."

Harry twists his lips to the side and isn't sure what he's supposed to say. He isn't necessarily good in situations like this, and having Niall as his only friend meant that Harry isn't properly prepared in how to console people. He's never experienced a family death, and Niall is always happy go lucky so Harry isn't entirely sure what he can say or do to make Louis feel better. 

He figures its best to just talk to Louis. That's all he can truly give. 

"Were you close to him?"

Louis nods, and in that moment, Harry starts to see tears springing to Louis' blue eyes. Harry pinches his brows together and looks curiously over Louis' face. The last thing Harry ever expected was to see Louis cry, _ever._ Louis is this fit football player that likes to be cocky and confident all the time so now that Harry is seeing this vulnerable side to him, he feels speechless. He's not sure if he can handle Louis full blown crying in front of him. It's already hard enough to see him upset, but if tears get involved, Harry's heart might actually break for him.

"He was my rock," Louis sniffles. "He was the person who helped the most growing up, and I just - I just _really_ hate this day." Louis' shoulders slouch when he relieves another big breath, and Harry feels the need to touch him again so he carefully reaches out and holds on to Louis' forearm. Louis' lips twitch up just a little before they are turning back down into a frown. "I was at the pub earlier, and a stupid Arsenal fan was in there edging me on. He kept throwing jabs at me, and then he started talking shit about my dad, and I - I couldn't ..."

Harry sighs. "Louis," he whispers, thumb running along Louis' skin. 

"I got so pissed off, Harry," Louis continues, blue eyes watering up as he turns to completely face Harry. The look of pain is evident on Louis' face, and Harry wants nothing more than to brush it away with a gentle touch to his cheek, but he refrains from doing so and just holds on to Louis' arm a little tighter. "I mean, this twat just kept _going_ and _going_ , and it got to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore. I even tried to walk away, but when he wouldn't stop, I turned around and punched him - right in the nose - and then I just kept going. I couldn't stop myself. I was seeing black, and I couldn't control my own body. I just knew that punching this man felt good, and I didn't know how to stop myself because my dad was always the one who was there to calm me down and bring me back to myself, but he wasn't there, and I don't have him here to do that anymore."

By the time Louis finishes, a sob belts out of him, and he goes back to hiding himself with his arms. He covers his face with his hands when the crying won't stop, and Harry's need to not touch Louis in a comforting way is soon washed away by the desire to actually comfort him. He can't stand to see Louis look so sad and _broken._ It breaks Harry's heart to know that Louis is feeling this kind of pain, and the only thing he can think of doing is wrapping his arms around Louis' body and drawing him in close to his chest, hugging him tightly as Louis' head turns towards into his chest. 

"Hey, it's okay, Lou," Harry reassures, nibbling on his bottom lip, rubbing his hands up and down Louis' back. 

"I just - everything went fuzzy after the first punch," Louis adds after a second. He pulls his face back a little bit and brings his hand up to wipe under his eyes. He laughs bitterly at himself. "I literally threw everything that was in my way. I'm lucky Zayn was there to pull me off of him."

Harry silences Louis by pulling him back against his chest. He doesn't need to hear anymore of how Louis got lost in his emotions. Harry knows first hand how scary and exhausting it can be. Louis was hurt and in pain, and he sought best to confine in Harry to feel better so Harry is going to do just that. He wants to comfort Louis in to calming down, wants to make him smile and forget this sadness that he is currently feeling. Harry's never been good with his words, but he's good at giving hugs, and if holding Louis close to his body is enough for Louis to relax, then that's what he is going to continue to do. So they sit like that for a coupe of minutes, Harry holding Louis, Louis burying himself in Harry's chest. He can feel Louis starting to calm down as time continues. His breathing starts to even out, and his body is no longer hiccuping to his sobs. The silence carriers on, but right when Harry is about to check on Louis to see if he's good, he hears a soft mutter coming from the boy. 

"I didn't take my pills today," is what Louis whispers, causing Harry's eyes to snap open in surprise. 

Harry retracts his body a little. "Louis?"

Louis sighs when he realizes Harry's heard him so with another sniffle, he pulls away from Harry's hold. He leans back against the wall and starts to wipe at his eyes and nose, trying his best to clean away his tears. "It's why I called you," he admits. "You can calm me down in a way that I don't understand - like what my dad used to do - so you were the first person I thought of seeing. You've done pretty good so far."

Harry really hasn't done anything other than gently touch Louis, but again, if it's enough for Louis, then it's enough for Harry. 

Harry smiles bashfully when he sees Louis looking at him, blues getting just an ounce brighter from staring at Harry's face. Harry can't help but blush, and he has to bite his lip and look away so his irrational thoughts about Louis don't begin to surface. 

"So is that why you point to the sky after your goal?" Harry then wonders, trying to divert Louis' attention away from himself. 

Louis smiles a little, nodding. "Every time I make a goal, I make it for him. He's the one who pushed me in football, and he's the one who always supported me to play for Chelsea. It was our dream."

"That's sweet," Harry whispers in response, feeling a smile creep on his lips. 

Louis glances at Harry again, this time feeling every bone and muscle inside of him starting to loosen up. He continues to sit there and simply gaze at Harry, putting his entire sole focus on the boy and making Harry's stomach erupt in butterflies the longer their eyes are locked on one another. Harry has to pull away first, licking his lips and looking out at the football field in front of him, but he can still feel Louis' eyes on the side of his face. He starts to blush, like he always does when he catches Louis looking, and starts to mindlessly push his curls out of his face and behind his hair. 

"Do you really hate me?" Louis eventually asks in the midst of the silence, causing Harry to frown and turn to look at him again. 

"No," Harry responds truthfully. He licks his lips and looks out at the field again. "I got the wrong first impression of you, but I think I'm starting to see the real you now."

Louis smiles at the comment and visibly relaxes some more. His eyes never leave Harry's face, and after a couple of seconds contemplating what he should say or do, chewing on his bottom lip in the mean time, he ends up wrapping his arms around Harry's body to give him a proper hug in return. Harry's body stiffens at first, but then he's relaxing in Louis' hold and hugging him back, burying his nose in Louis' nose and feeling his heart rate increase from how good it feels to be in Louis' arms properly. 

"Thank you," Louis whispers against his ear, turning to press a soft kiss to Harry's cheek and leaving Harry sitting there all hot and flustered. 

//

A couple hours after their talk, Harry and Louis find themselves in the middle of the football pitch with a football being kicked between the both of them. It isn't Harry's ideal passing time, but when his foot misses the ball and he stumbles over his legs to fall on the grass with Louis' laugh belting out loudly, Harry can't seem to find it in himself to complain too much about it. 

"You really are rubbish at football, huh?" Louis giggles on his way over to Harry. He stares down at the boy for a couple of seconds with a bright smile on his face before he's offering a hand to help him up. With a huff, Harry uses his hold to pull himself on his feet. Once he's standing, he playfully hardens his eyes at Louis. "I think you should let me tutor you in footie as well."

Harry finally cracks a smile. "Do you plan to tutor me in everything?"

"Oui," Louis beams.

Harry rolls his eyes at the comment and idly looks down to see Louis' shoe resting on top of the football that knocked Harry to his feet. He ponders for a couple of seconds of what he should do, debating if he should try to do something childish like push Louis to the ground as a punishment for his laughing, but considering Louis is an actual _athlete,_ Harry figures he will be the one back on his ass if he attempts anything. So instead, with a smirk, Harry quickly crouches down to grab the ball and begins running the opposite way from Louis. Louis' eyes widen comically when Harry begins laughing and running away from him, but then he's chasing after the boy, laughing as well and quickly gaining speed on him. Thankfully, Harry's long legs give him some sort of advantage because he reaches the goal before Louis reaches him, and he chunks the ball as hard as he can into the net and turns around to face Louis with a proud smile on his face when Louis stops in front of him. 

"Ha, I made the first goal," Harry cheers, pumping his fist in the air and shimming his hips, almost teasingly, causing a wide grin to spread across Louis' lips. "I guess that means I win, right? I win, I win, I win."

Louis stands there blatantly admiring the way Harry enjoys his little victory celebration. He even shamelessly glances down when Harry turns around in a circle to take a quick peak at Harry shaking his ass before he's looking back up again. He meets Harry's green eyes and starts to laugh fondly at how goofy Harry is. 

"You're cute," Louis blurts out, not even realizing he's even said it until Harry's dancing abruptly stops. 

"I heard that," Harry warns. 

Louis isn't even the least bit embarrassed he let the word slip, just simply shrugs his shoulders. "Well, you're being cute," he argues, reaching up to pinch Harry's cheek. 

"I am not," Harry laughs, playfully swatting at Louis' hand. 

"Yes, you are."

"Negatory"

Louis rolls his eyes, and out of no where, leaps forward to lift Harry over his shoulders. Harry nearly squeals out in surripse when he's easily flung over Louis' body, and he holds on tightly to the back of his shirt when Louis begins sprinting down the field to head towards the other goal. 

"Louis," Harry cries, or laughs, he isn't sure what sounds he's making right now. "What are you doing?"

Harry's body is tense while Louis continues to run, fearing that at any point Louis might accidentally drop him. He knows Louis really won't. He can tell by the secure arm Louis has around his waist that his body isn't going anywhere, but the feel of his body jolting with every step Louis takes sends his heart skyrocketing out of his chest. Harry isn't sure where this side of Louis suddenly came from, but he likes it. He likes that he gets to see this playful, fun side of Louis that gets hidden behind the mask the media paints for him. It's like a breath of fresh air for Harry to mess around with Louis like this without having to worry about all the bullshit that surrounds them. It's nice to know that he is what Louis needed to be brought back to himself, and every time Harry thinks about it, along with the feel of Louis' hands touching his hips, it sends his stomach into a fluttering mess. 

"There is no cute allowed on the football field so I need to take you off of it," is Louis' reason. 

Harry giggles and buries his head into Louis' back as Louis begins to slow down his pace. He takes a couple of steps forward and ends up guiding Harry off of his shoulder and on to the bench he jogged the both of them to. Once Harry is properly seated, his mouth covered behind his hand to hide his fit of giggles, Louis takes a seat on the turf in front of him. 

"I can't believe you just did that."

"What are friends for if not to annoy one another?" Louis questions with a smirk, soon faltering a little with a frown. He swallows and furrows his eyebrows together, looking sincerely at Harry. "We are friends, right?" he then wonders, sounding just a little bit insecure. 

Harry's lips curve up into a warming smile. "Of course we are," he reassures, soon rolling his eyes. "You're a pain in my arse, but like you said, what are friends for?"

"Harry!" Louis then scolds, causing Harry's eyes to widen in surprise. "I can't believe you just cussed in front of me. How dare you speak such vulgar language. You need someone to wash your mouth with soap."

Harry starts giggling some more. "You're the bad influence," he teases, blinking his eyes over at Louis, softening his features to a smile when he sees the same look on Louis' face. 

Louis holds Harry's gaze for a few moments when he realizes neither of them are choosing to look away, but it's hard for Harry to actually pull himself away from Louis when his bright, blue eyes make Harry's insides feel warm and fluttery. It's an addicting feeling, and the longer he stares, the more he starts to feel the burn of Louis' lips where they were pressed against his cheek just hours before, reminding him that Louis actually kissed his skin, and Harry _actually,_ sort of liked it. 

He coughs and looks away immediately. 

"So," Louis draws out after the silence starts to become awkward. "You want to come back to mine to watch a flick or something? I don't really want to be alone, and I try to occupy my day by doing random shit."

Harry swallows down everything that's telling him to say no and agrees with a head nod. He's spent the last few hours with Louis in this arena, and they've had quite a good time. Harry's never pictured himself _ever_ going to Louis' home to hang out with him, but the moment feels right, and he doesn't really want to go back to his home yet. If anything, Harry is starting to crave spending time with Louis the more he gets to know the boy, and despite all the conflicting feelings he has going on inside his head, Harry does like to be around him. So the two of them walk out the arena together and head towards Louis' Porsche parked in the player lot. Louis opens the passenger door for Harry and quickly rushes around to get in the driver seat. The trip back to his apartment is quick considering he lives a couple of streets away from the stadium, and the area is secluded enough that Harry doesn't have to worry about any crazy fans spotting them together, which, he didn't even think about until the two of them were out the safety of the arena. Luckily, Louis pulls into the garage with ease and without being spotted, and he guides the two of them towards the elevator and presses the top floor where his apparent flat is located. 

_Penthouse suite_ , Harry casually thinks to himself. 

When Harry steps through the front door, he whistles. "Wow," he breathes in awe, taking a step forward to admire [the living room](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/2AHEBT3/luxury-modern-penthouse-interior-with-panoramic-windows-3d-render-2AHEBT3.jpg). 

Harry isn't sure what he expected Louis' place to look like, but he didn't think he expected it to look so clean and _modern._ He half expected footballs and trophies to be all over the place, half expected it to be a pigsty, but never expected it to look so _nice._ The open kitchen to the left side of the room has black marble walls, a slight contrast to the white granite countertops and the clean, white cabinets above. There's two stoves in the kitchen, which looks like it hasn't been used, and a steel fridge. The living room is straight ahead, covered in white tile to compliment the black sectional leather couches placed by the fireplace near the wall of windows. Harry can't even imagine what the upstairs looks like, but from what he can gather about the downstairs of Louis' place, it probably looks just as nice. And the view from the windows is to die for, and Harry finds himself walking towards the windows by the couches to glance at the outside world, awing again at the sight of Hyde Park a couple streets down. 

"This is -" Harry pauses to shake his head, turning around to see Louis staring at him from behind the couch with a goofy grin on his face. "It's _big_ ," Harry ends up saying, furrowing his eyebrows together when he realizes it's not the word choice he is looking for. 

Louis snorts. "Big?"

"Yeah," Harry sighs, biting his bottom lip and moving to sit on the ottoman. 

Louis rolls his eyes and goes to sit across from the boy on the couch. "You need to be more confident when you speak, Harry. You've got the voice to be heard."

"You know you've been pretty adamant about that," Harry addresses with a blush, smiling a little. "The whole me speaking up and stuff, you always make a comment about it."

"Well, it always sounds like you doubt what you have to say - like it's the wrong thing - but, I like what you have to say. I just want you to know that you're listened to."

Harry blushes instantly, _again,_ and turns the other way to look out the window. "People usually don't like to listen to me," he sighs. "Or if they do, they just laugh at me."

Louis hums thoughtfully at the comment and ends up standing to his feet. He gives Harry a smile when the boy turns to look at what he is doing and then offers Harry a hand. Harry blinks a couple of times before he grabs on to Louis and lets him pull him to his feet as well. Once they're both standing and facing one another, Louis tilts his head in the direction of the hallway and leads the way there. Harry mindlessly follows behind as he continues to look around the rest of Louis' flat until they reach a door, Louis' bedroom door if Harry has to guess. 

Before opening it, Louis turns around. "I want you to know that I listen." Then he opens the door. 

Harry follows Louis into [his bedroom](https://cdn.decoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/beautiful-penthouse-bedroom.jpg) and widens his eyes when he sees how big and grand it looks. Much like the living room, Harry wasn't entirely sure what he expected Louis' sleeping quarters to look like, but yet again, he is surprised. There's windows lining the far wall of the room that shows the better half of London, a perfect view placed right in front of the large, king-like mattress. On the opposite wall from the bedroom door, Harry can see Louis' closet, a walk in one that has an island in the middle full of shoes. Next to the closet are double doors that lead into the bathroom, and since they're open, Harry can easily see the inside of the room. There's a big, jacuzzi-like bathtub pressed against one of the windows and a marble shower right across. There's another door further in the bathroom that Harry supposes is where the toilet is, but he gets distracted from his observing when Louis steps in front of him to block his wondering eyes. 

"This is amazing, Lou," Harry speaks breathlessly, eyes falling on the bed again and realizing how big the mattress looks. 

"It's a California King mattress," Louis answers the unasked question as he turns to walk towards it. He sets his phone down on the nightstand and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. He looks up at Harry and offers him a small smile, patting the spot next to him so Harry can come join him. Harry gulps nervously and tries to hide it behind a smile of his own, slowly making his way to the bed and sitting down on the spot next to Louis. "So you want to watch a couple of movies and maybe order some pizza?" Louis questions once they are both settled. 

" _Um -_ Sure, if that's what you want to do?"

Louis raises an eyebrow. "Harry," he warns. 

With a huff, Harry rolls his eyes and grabs the remote off the nightstand next to Louis, turning the TV on and relaxing against the pillows. "Fine, _yes_ \- that sounds perfect. We're watching the Notebook."

"Woah, okay, Curly," Louis then teases, following Harry by getting comfy on his side of the mattress. "Don't need to get all bossy on me now." Louis means it as a joke, and he tries to prove it with the small laugh that follows, but when he glances at Harry and sees him deflating a little, he realizes that this might not be something he can joke about just yet. Louis sighs when he sees Harry nibbling on his fingernail, and he gently reaches over to pry it away from Harry's mouth. "Hey, babe, I'm just joking. I'm glad you picked the movie, _confidently_ , I might add. It would've taken me forever before I decided."

Harry blinks down at where Louis' fingers are tangled around his own, and he briefly smiles. "I'm sorry," he apologizes weakly, biting his bottom lip and looking back into Louis' eyes. 

Louis smiles in response and lets go of Harry's fingers, reaching for the remote and searching for the movie. "I like your nails, by the way," he comments after a few seconds.

"Thank you," Harry says more brightly. He brings his right hand up and flexes his fingers out in front of him, smiling as he admires the color that's painted on them. "My sister wanted to get into the holiday spirit so red is what she came up with him."

Louis hums thoughtfully. "You should do mine sometime."

"Really?" Harry questions, surprised, shocked, a little baffled. He mindlessly scoots a little closer to Louis so he can get a better look at his face, really trying to see if Louis is messing with him, but when he sees that Louis' being genuine, he preens.

"Of course," Louis agrees, pausing his search once he finds the desired movie and turning to look at Harry instead. "I mean, why not, right? It looks good on you."

Harry doesn't entirely know how to respond to the compliment so he looks down into his lap and feels his entire face heating up in a blush. He doesn't even try to hide it this time, or the goofy grin stretching his lip and causing a dimple to cater into his cheek, he's just at the point of embracing it by now. Harry crosses his legs over one another and refuses to look up when he knows Louis is staring at him, he can feel the warm burn of Louis' bright, blue eyes looking right at the side of his face. Harry's heart starts beating faster in his chest, and his lets out a slow, shaky breath hoping it covers the sound of his loud heart. 

"Alright, time for the movies," Louis says after a moment, glancing back at the television and clicking play. "Hush."

Harry smiles and pretends to zip his lips together before he's settling back and watching the movie.

They get through a second movie after the Notebook finishes, another romantic comedy that Harry favors - 10 Things I Hate About You. It's been nice to sit back and watch these movies, even having a couple boxes of pizza getting delivered to the flat and eating them in bed together. It's been a good distraction for Louis to not think about what happened earlier in the day, and even though romantic comedies might not be his first choice in movies, he did enjoy watching them with Harry by his side. Every gasp and awe that came from Harry any time something surprising on screen happened made Louis giggle each time, and Louis found it even more endearing because for some strange reason, he had a feeling Harry has already seen these movies multiple times so it just made those awes and gasps that much more amusing. However, as endeared Louis is watching Harry watch these romantic movies, he is getting tired of them. After watching two love movies next to the person that gives him conflicting feelings isn't necessarily ideal for Louis, and he would typically enjoy a movie like this if he had a partner to enjoy them with, but, he doesn't. So he wants a movie he can enjoy for himself. Like an action movie. 

"Oh, come on," Harry complains for what seems like the umpteenth time, having heard another one of Louis' argument for a movie genre change. He pouts and childishly crosses his arms over his chest. "One more, please? Sixteen Candles?" Louis doesn't budge. "Please?" Harry tries again, really trying to bring on the puppy dog eyes, but Louis shakes his head and continues to look through the action movies.

Harry lets out the loudest and most dramatic groan before he takes drastic measures. With another huff, Harry flings the covers off of his body and jumps up on his knees, Louis' head immediately jerking in his direction to see what the heck Harry is doing. Harry ends up getting on his hands and knees and crawls closer unto Louis until his face is just about right in Louis', full blown going pouty and puppy dog.

"Pleeaassseee," Harry begs one last time, blinking for extra measures. 

It takes every ounce of Louis to not let the way Harry is looking at him, body nearly hovering over his own, affect him too much. It's just playful fun, but Harry is begging, and he's on his hands and knees, and not only that, his big, doe green eyes are staring pleadingly at Louis, and it's hard for Louis not to feel a thrill of pleasure shoot down to his groin. He does his best to push it aside with a nervous laugh, playfully pressing his hand to Harry's chest to push him away. 

"It's my turn to pick," Louis manages to say after he swallows his pride and his stupid rising sexual desires. He shifts a little on the bed and tries to fix the blanket as a cover up to press against his groin. He hates that he's still technically a hormonal teenager, and he double hates how a cute boy on his hands and knees in front of him is enough to peak his interest. "You picked the last two, and I think it's fair if I get to choose."

Harry rolls his eyes and scoots back into Louis' space, somewhat confidently, until their legs are touching. Harry doesn't even falter, and he doesn't even notice the internal turmoil going on inside of Louis right now, he just keeps on begging. "I'm the guest here," he reminds. 

Louis rolls his eyes, but he finally moves off of action movies, but, he doesn't go back to romantic comedies, instead, he chooses something else. _Horror_. If Louis doesn't get the chance to watch the type of movies that he wants, then maybe he should be unfair and not let Harry watch the movies that he wants. Plus, he figures if Harry isn't a fan of scary movies and gets twitchy and nervous throughout them, then he might want to seek comfort from Louis, and that is something Louis will not mind. Maybe, _just maybe_ , Harry will get more comfortable around Louis, and he'll start to touch the boy more. Instead of their legs pressing up against each other, maybe it can be their arms, and then maybe they can tangle together on the sheets. It all starts to sound promising as Louis clicks on the horror films, but it's then he realizes where he let his head wonder to, and he's once again reminded that Harry is _just_ sixteen years old, and not only that, Louis swore to himself to never think about Harry like that. 

Luckily, Louis is saved when he hears his phone buzz on the nightstand. Louis lets out the biggest relief breath and sets the remote on his belly to see who it is that messaged him, frowning when he sees Stan's name on the screen. 

_Guess you're getting farther with the cock virgin than you think._

Louis reads the message over and over again and deflates. He remembers sending a quick text about how he was taking Harry back to his flat for a movie night, but he never really expected much from it because the message was simply to let Stan know that he was busy and couldn't hang. Something about Stan's reply didn't settle well with him though, and he isn't sure what he exactly wants to say in response to it so he continues to stare at the screen while Harry slumps back against his stack of pillows. 

"So, horror?" Harry questions in the silence, causing Louis to jolt in his spot. "Just don't make it too scary, please?"

Louis feels his muscles relax at the sound of his voice and sets the phone back on the nightstand. Stan is a problem he can worry about later, but right now, Harry is here with him, and the last thing Louis wants to do is ruin it by letting his sexual, childish desires cloud his mind. 

"I would never make it too scary," Louis responds with a cheeky smile. 

Harry rolls his eyes. "Sure, Lou."

"Don't you trust me?" 

Harry hums thoughtfully before he starts to quickly shake his head _no_. Louis scoffs and hardens his eyes at Harry, hoping with his playfully, evil glare, that Harry would change his mind, but, he doesn't. Instead, Harry smiles cheekily, batting his eyelashes and feigning the look of innocence. Louis huffs when he realizes the look Harry is giving him is one that can get him out of anything so he easily drops his glare and softens his eyes, turning his scowl into a soft smile as he stares back into Harry's bright green eyes. The two of them end up looking in to each other's eyes without noticing that they're actually doing so. There's a box of pizza wedged between their legs, two half opened bottles of coke on the nightstand, and the movie listings still up on the screen, but none of that really seems to matter when blue eyes are looking in to green. And the longer the two of them gaze into each other's eyes, the more the world around them ceases to exist, and without thinking much about it, Louis inches his face just a little closer, subconsciously, and then Harry finds himself doing the same thing. Then it's like something inside of them cannot stop, and the both are starting to move their faces just inch by inch until they're nearly breathing in each other's mouth. 

Louis is the first to realize what is happening, and his body jolts a little when he registers that he and Harry are about to kiss, but with the jolt, he tips forward a little, and in order for him to not completely plummet against Harry's face, he reaches his hand out to hold himself up, except, instead of coming in contact with the mattress like Louis half expected, his hand reaches out onto Harry's thigh. Louis sees Harry's face instantly drain of color the second he accidentally touches him, and that isn't the reaction he is expecting nor wanting. Harry's eyes widen in mere shock, and he pulls his face back a little and glances down at the hand on his thigh before he's casually glancing across towards Louis' lap - and well, when he sees the slight bulge in his pants, Harry feels every single hair on his arm stand up in alert. Louis pulls his hand back almost immediately, as if he's burned himself, and moves it to the back of his neck to scratch at his scalp. He laughs nervously and tries to play everything off with a small, hesitant laugh, scooting just a budge away from Harry and pulling the covers up to his hips so Harry isn't traumatized by the small excitement going on in his pants. 

With a shaky breath, Louis grabs the remote and goes back to searching through the horror movies. "Nothing too scary," he repeats after the awkward silence is getting too much for him. "Right," he mutters quietly. 

Louis spends the next few moments scrolling through each of the movies that are shown. He sees a couple that peak his interest, but he can't focus long enough to actually choose one to watch. Plus, his mind keeps swirling back to the moment where he saw himself leaning in closer to kiss Harry and then accidentally touching Harrys leg and nearly scarring him to death. It didn't really settle well with Louis, and he doesn't want to make Harry feel any more uncomfortable than he probably already is, so Louis decides to go back to Romantic Comedies to put the requested Sixteen Candles on. Louis can see out the corner of his eyes that Harry finally relaxes, and he starts to crack a small, secretive smile when he realizes what Louis is doing, and he even casts a quick glance towards Louis' face before he's settling against the pillows and getting comfortable for the movie. Louis' thankful enough that the awkward moment has passed and Harry is now distracted by the movie, but as Louis sits there, he still can't help but have this unsettling feeling deep within his soul. He feels horrible, and nervous, and confused, and all these different types of emotions that he can't even find the energy to properly watch the movie with Harry. 

It doesn't help Louis to know that he's also been talking to Stan about Harry, and although Louis really hasn't said anything bad or vulgar about the boy, Stan has, and Louis doesn't stop it. He lets Stan make jokes, and he lets Stan talk down about the boy, and it sucks - it really fucking sucks because Louis genuinely does enjoy Harry's company - age and sexual desires pushed aside - Harry makes Louis smile, and he knows he needs to stop Stan from being a dick, but it's also hard for Louis to find the right words to say. 

About halfway through the movie, Louis starts to hear heavy breaths drowning out the sounds of the movie. Louis turns his head to see whats going on, but when he sees that Harry is slumped over his side with his eyes closed and lips puffed out in a pout, he feels every fiber and muscle inside of his body instantly soften. Harry's head is a couple inches from Louis' shoulder where it's hanging uncomfortably off his neck, and if Louis really wants to, he could lean just a little bit over to get Harry's head on his shoulder to be more comfortable, but as soon as he thinks about it, he quickly brushes it aside. Louis hates how he keeps letting himself think about Harry like this - constantly admiring how the boy looks and how kissable his lips seem. Louis just wants to run his fingers through Harry's curls all the time and brush at his scalp, wants to know what sounds he makes when he's comforted and the way his body moves whenever he's held. Louis has all these conflicting feelings and thoughts about Harry swimming through his mind, and at this point, he really isn't sure when any of it started. One minute, Louis isn't too fond of the boy, even despised Harry for not knowing who he was, but then one day, things changed. One day, Louis started to feel things for Harry, and as much as it has been on his mind, he doesn't want to do anything about it. Louis finds himself constantly thinking about Harry - finds himself wanting to be around the boy, and he even finds himself starting to seek him out in the football crowds at games when he's the one who supposed to be focused on the actual game.

And that's all Louis can really think about for the rest of the night. 

//

The next morning comes quicker than Louis expects considering he doesn't remember actually falling asleep. There's a crick in his neck where he's laying, and there's something fuzzy tickling right under his nose. He feels something warm and slightly heavy resting up against his chest, and something quite big being held in his arms. Then Louis registers that there are actual hands touching his waist, and maybe a leg tucked underneath his own. It takes Louis another few seconds to register that there is in fact another body next to his, and when he gets a good whiff of the hair that might be suffocating his nose, all he smells is something fruity.

 _Harry_.

Louis slowly blinks his eyes open to register the early morning light and sees the said boy tucked underneath his chin. They're both on their sides, facing one another, and Louis' arm is casually thrown over Harry's hip with his thighs clamping one of Harry's leg. Harry's own arm is wrapped around Louis' waist, and he can feel Harry's hand clutching at the back of his shirt. And well, Louis wants to freak out about the way they are laying - he never really thought he was one to cuddle another body - but he feels comfortable, and he realizes how nice it is to be held by someone he wants to be held by, and the close intimacy of their bodies in the morning is warming Louis' heart. He likes the way the sun looks on Harry's face, how young and soft it makes him look, and he likes the way Harry's body is naturally caving into his own, like Harry is subconsciously seeking out Louis warmth and hold even in his sleep. It's nice. 

Louis has to pull away though because although he finds nothing wrong about the way they are cuddling each other, he doesn't think Harry will find it okay. So Louis starts to slowly and carefully detangle his limbs out of Harry's space, making sure he doesn't wake the boy in the process, however, once Louis gets his body away from Harry's, he immediately feels a wave of heat pooling down to his groin. When Louis stands to his feet, he looks down and groans frustratedly at the problem that is tenting out of his pants. 

"Fuck," Louis whispers to himself, running his fingers through his fringe and quickly glancing at Harry to see if he's still asleep. 

He is, and Louis is lucky enough that he can escape to the bathroom to get rid of his little problem before Harry finds out that Louis got hard from cuddling. It's embarrassing as it is creepy, and Louis has to take a long, cold shower to wash away all his states of his arousal before he is walking back out, clothed, to see Harry sitting up on the mattress and rubbing at his eyes to get rid of his sleepiness. 

"Morning," Harry yawns, pressing his hands over his head to stretch out his back. Louis has to quickly dart his eyes away and distract himself by toweling off his hair. 

"Morning," Louis repeats. 

There's a beat of silence where Louis tosses his towel into his laundry bin before he's walking around the bed to put his slippers on. "I should head home," Harry says eventually, chewing on his bottom lip as he tosses the covers off his body so he can stand on his feet. 

"Do you need a ride?"

Harry hums and follows Louis out the bedroom. "No, I'm okay. I like to walk." Louis nods his head and walks Harry to the front door. He opens it for the boy and smiles bashfully as Harry steps past him to get out into the hallway. Before Harry leaves though, he looks at Louis one last time, smiling earnestly. "Thank you for inviting me over. I had fun, but, I'm sorry for accidentally falling asleep."

"It's no worries," Louis brushes aside. "It happens during movie marathons, but I'm glad you had fun. I did, too. You helped me yesterday, and I can't thank you enough for that. 

Harry smiles. "Yeah, no problem. Call me anytime."

Harry lingers around for a couple more seconds before he is finally turning to leave. Louis ends up leaning against the doorway and watching Harry all the way down the hallway until he gets hidden by the elevator doors closing. Once Harry is gone, Louis closes his front door loudly and ends up sliding down it until he is sitting his ass on the ground. 

"What the fuck is happening?" Louis asks the sky, running his hands down the sides of his face with a loud groan belting out of him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's two new characters introduced. They play minor roles now, but later in the story, their significance grows. Enjoy. x

There's an incisive beeping sound coming from the alarm that wakes Harry up from his sleep. It's a reminder that it's another day of school for him, but the smell of a morning breakfast tickling underneath his nose is a separate reminder of what today is - his birthday. Harry buries his face back into his pillow and groans into the material before he is rolling on to his side to stare at the dark wall in his eye sight. He blows a big breath of air past his lips and finally turns the alarm off so the sound can stop bothering him, and then he's unlocking the screen to read all the incoming message he is receiving. 

From Gemma - _Happy birthday baby bro!! Stop growin up xxx_

From Niall - _Hey bitch wake up!! Just kidding HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEST FRIEND EVER!! Love you you curly headed goof! <3 _\- Harry giggles at this one. 

Even a message from Zayn, Louis' personal assistant sends him something - _Happy Birthday mate!_

Harry smiles at all of them and waits a couple of seconds to see if another one comes in. He isn't entirely sure who he is looking for or who he expects to message him, but he's greatly disappointed when he doesn't receive anything else. It isn't like Harry expected Louis to know today is his birthday or even expected him to send a message, but it's kind of upsetting to know Louis doesn't bother himself to say anything. Harry thought the two of them were getting closer, and after the moment the two spent at the stadium and then Louis' home back in December, Harry thought there would be a shift in their relationship. 

Supposedly not. 

Harry groans as he finally pushes himself off the bed. He figures he should get ready for school so he can enjoy a breakfast with his mother so he pads off into the washroom and begins his routine. He starts with his shower, then heads to the sink to brush his teeth and remove his nail polish. Then it's to his closet to find clothes to wear - he settles for something simple and casual - he really isn't in the mood to dress over the top, but he does tie a cute, floral scarf into his hair to tame the wildness of his curls. Once he's dressed, he tosses his towel into the laundry bin and heads downstairs to join his mother in the kitchen, but by the time he walks in, he sees no sign of her. Harry deflates when he sees his plate of food on the center of the dining table, walking over to it and reading the small sticky note that's next to it informing Harry that Anne already left for work. 

_Great_ , Harry thinks to himself. 

Harry begins munching on his food peacefully, thankful enough that his mother _did_ make his favorite breakfast this morning. He's about halfway done when his phone starts buzzing so he sets his fork down and pulls the device out of his pocket and instantly smiles when he sees who's calling him. It's his little cousin, Claire - his favorite person ever. She's enough to at least lift Harry's dampened mood. 

"Claire Bear," Harry greets when he accepts the call. 

" _Hazmasta_ ," she cheers, causing Harry to giggle. " _Happy Birthday, cousin. How's your morning going so far?"_

Harry hums as he forks his half eaten pancakes. "It's going pretty good so far. My mum made my favorite breakfast."

The conversation continues while Harry finishes up his breakfast. Since Harry's moved away from Cheshire, he hasn't been able to see his cousin as much as he would like. They used to live only a few minutes away from each other, and even though he is roughly seven years older than her, Harry has always enjoyed her company. They were best friends, and they spent nearly all their time together the mornings before school, and Harry misses those memories with her. It's harder for Harry to remember everything now that he is older. He learned not too long ago that Claire is unwell - _she's sick_. And it makes sense to Harry now because in the past, Claire would always get breathless when they played, and her parents always made sure she took her vitamins - which, Harry thinks were her pills - and she always had to miss school because she needed to go to the doctors so it's hard for Harry to know this information and still be so far away from her at the same time. 

They finish their talk when Harry's food is gone, and they end the call with a promise to see each other soon. Harry really wants to keep the promise because he just _knows_ Claire's life is on the line right now, and the last thing Harry wants to do is regret not spending any time with her. 

Harry shakes his head from these negative thoughts and quickly rushes out the front door to head to school. He gets there in a decent amount of time to head towards his locker, and he really isn't surprised when he sees Niall already waiting eagerly by his door. Harry walks up to him with a hesitant smile and just waits until Niall does what Niall does - which today happens to be throwing confetti in Harry's face. 

"Happy Birthday little one," Niall cheers, throwing some more confetti in Harry's face and smiling brightly when Harry's nose scrunches in distaste.

"Gee, thanks, Ni."

Niall furrows his eyebrows when he hears the bitterness in Harry's tone, but he doesn't bother to press anymore. Instead, he links his arm through Harry's and skips down the hallway towards their first class of the day. Nothin much happens other than Harry sitting through the professors lecturing and then eating lunch with Niall, even getting surprised when Niall brings out a small tray of cupcakes his mother supposedly baked for Harry's birthday. It's nice to have a sweet treat for his birthday, but for some reason, there's still something in the back of Harry's head bugging him into this gloomy state. He knows it's his birthday and the day is supposed to be all about him, but for some reason, it just sucks. 

Harry walks into his math class after French and heads to his desk without trying to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. The bell rings shortly after he's seated, and the teacher is already walking up to the front board to start writing down a bunch of problems she wants the class to be working on. Harry huffs in annoyance and glances at the clock on the wall above the board to anxiously watches as the seconds tick on. He gets distracted for a few moments before he notices a boy moving out his peripheral so Harry turns to see who it is and ends up pinching his brows together when he notices it's one of Niall's friend from Year Book who joined the seat next to him. 

"Hey, Harry, right?" The boy questions lightly, a warm and welcoming smile that makes Harry lighten up. 

Harry's never really gotten a chance to look at Niall's friend up close and personal. Most of the time, Niall will leave Harry to go meet with his other friends so Harry's never _actually_ seen what they look like. And to be honest, he didn't think this friend would be as cute as he is. It's almost making Harry's heart beat faster in a small jolt of excitement, only because not a lot of cute boys go out of their way to talk to Harry. Granted, this dude might just be talking to Harry since their mutual friend is Niall, but still, it makes Harry feel slightly important. 

"Yeah, I am," Harry finally replies, casually rolling his eyes to the board so he doesn't look too much like a creep from staring at this boy's features. 

"Nice," the boy smiles again. "I don't think we've ever actually met, but my name is Jake. I do year book with Niall."

"Oh, right," Harry nods.

Jake twists his lips to the side and momentarily remains silent for a couple seconds. "So," he continues on, awkwardly. "We're both friends with Niall. I was thinking we should maybe get to know each other as well."

"Why?' Harry suddenly blurts, jerking his head in Jake's direction with a frown. 

He really isn't sure why he's being so short with Jake, but at the same time, he's really not sure why after years of Jake and Niall being friends, why all of a sudden he wants to talk to Harry. It's strange, and again, Harry isn't used to people talking to him.

"I _uh_ \- why not?" Jake responds confusedly. Harry raises his eyebrow and is about to turn towards the teacher again, but Jake continues on. "You seem pretty cool to me."

Harry blushes, but he tries really hard not to. The thing about Jake - despite his naturally good looks - is that he's a slag. Harry has nothing against people who want to have sex before marriage or at what age they lose their virginity, but well, Jake seems to not care about it either, as in, he's had many sexual partners since his first year at Collingham, and it seems like his body count continuously grows each year. And yeah, Harry hears it around in the hallways. Apparently Jake has gotten around in both the male and female side of things, but most of the time, it's Niall who is bragging about it to Harry. It's some weird jealous thing that Niall has when it comes to him complaining to Harry about the new body Jake just had sex with, and even though Harry tries his hardest not to judge, he also tries not to get too close to someone like that because Harry isn't one to just have sex. 

"Oh," Harry sighs. He bites his lip and looks down at his pen and paper, idly writing down the problems the teacher wrote on the board. 

Harry leaves the conversation at that and doesn't bother talking to Jake for the rest of the class. He's successful in ignoring the boy and focusing on his work instead, but the only problem with trying to avoid one person ends up causing Harry to bump into another person he doesn't want to bother himself with. As Harry quickly scurries out of his last class of the day to either catch up with Niall or get his ass home, he stumbles over his feet and bumps into another body. Unfortunately, the face of the body is Tanner's, and when Harry looks up to see who exactly it is he ran in to, he feels his entire body deflate at the wickedly evil smirk pressing at Tanner's lips. Harry groans and tries to walk around him, but Tanner quickly catches up. 

"Hey, flower boy."

Harry huffs, shrugging off Tanner's arm that suddenly comes out to his shoulder. "Please, just leave me alone."

"What? You don't have your secret lover boy to come in here and save you from me?"

Harry pauses his steps and turns to glower at Tanner, suddenly seeing a flash of _something_ cross his features. With a raised, curious eyebrow, Harry asks, "Are you jealous?"

Tanner holds his look for a few seconds before he is laughing and walking away. "You wish you fucking queer." Then he's gone. 

Harry rolls his eyes and continues to walk down the hallway until he sees Niall already at his own locker exchanging his things out. Harry finally feels himself relax and walks to his locker that's a few down from his and starts pulling his own shit out. 

"Hey, how was your day?" Niall wonders once Harry is close enough to him. He finishes grabbing all of his things and slams his door shut so he can walk over to join Harry. 

Harry shrugs lamely. "It's been fine."

Niall offers Harry a weak smile and pats the boy on his back. "I'm sorry, bud," he settles with. "I have to head out to get groceries for dinner, but I'll stop by later."

Harry nods his head and quickly steps away from his locker so he can give Niall a parting hug. He then goes back to his locker and continues to replace his folders for his backpack so he can get ready to head home. It's been a long day, and he's still gloomy. He isn't sure if it's because he hasn't received a certain message from someone or if it's because Harry's once again reminded that he has literally no friends to even celebrate his birthday with. He's lucky he has family coming in to town to go out to dinner, _he thinks,_ but other than that, he can't even have a freaking party because only one person would show up. It's just another terrific reminder that Harry is alone and a loser. 

Once Harry grabs what he needs, he slams his door shut and turns to leave, but he's immediately stopped when there's an expecting body on the other side of the door that jolts him in surprise. 

"Shit," Harry squeals, placing a hand to his heart. "What are you doing here?" he asks Louis, surprised to see a non-Collingham student _at_ Collingham. 

Louis' amusement is purely evident on his face, and he starts laughing when Harry's confusion is over the top. "Wow," he whistles once he is settled, bitting his lip and running fingers through his fringe before crossing his arms over his chest. "Give it that today I heard Harry Styles cuss."

Harry raises his eyebrows. "Ha-Ha," he mocks, lazily rolling his eyes. 

Louis just brightens up even more. 

"Some of the Chelsea players are here to run a small clinic for the football team, and I remember that you go here so I took a small break to come find you."

Harry tries every ounce inside of his body to _not_ blush, again, but he fails to do so when Louis is just looking at him like that - like he's the most happiest person in the world now that he managed to find Harry in the swarm of people that go here. It does make Harry's day a little brighter, even though the start to his sour mood started with him waking up to no messages from Louis. It's a petty thing for Harry to be upset about, but he _was_ hoping that this newly found friendship between the two of them actually meant something to Louis and that Louis would actually think about Harry today to send him a message. Evidently, Harry's hopes get diminished just as quick as they come, and he's sort of back to his sour mood, despite Louis being somewhat spontaneous for him. 

"Well, hello then," Harry mutters, shouldering his bag tighter around his arm. 

Louis frowns at the bitter tone and takes a step closer. "Hey, none of that," he scolds lightly. Next, Louis brings his fingers up and pushes Harry's lips into a smile, ultimately making Harry retract his head with a small laugh bubbling out of him. "I hope you know it's a universal rule that birthday boys shoulder _never_ be upset."

Harry's hopes are back. 

"You remembered?"

Louis' scoffs. "Of, course I remembered." Louis shakes his head as he casually slings an arm around Harry's shoulder to start guiding him down the hallway. "Honestly, Haz, why else would I ask the Coach for today to be the day we do the clinic at the school? It worked out perfectly, and I get to see you."

Harry feels so warm and giddy that he has to physically stop walking so he can just _breathe._ It's such a small act for anyone to do, but Louis did it, and he did it for the sole purpose of seeing Harry on his birthday. It's as sweet as it is romantic - _er_ \- friendly, and Harry's mood instantly skyrockets. He feels his heart starting to beat faster in his chest, purely from excitement and endearment. Not even the cupcakes Niall brought for lunch could top this, and Harry doesn't even know what to do with himself at this point but hug Louis. So, that's exactly what he does. He wraps his arms around Louis' neck and draws him into a much needed hug, laughing softly against his ear and shutting his eyes when Louis' warm hands wind around his back.

"This is amazing, thank you."

Louis pulls back with a smile, but he keeps his hands pressed on Harry's hips. "Let's go," he demands, eyes sparkling from the sunlight beaming through the windows, a small look of mischief on his face as he drags Harry out the front doors of the school. 

"What?" Harry questions, body easily following Louis'. "Go where?"

Louis shrugs like the answer is so obvious. "It's your birthday," he reminds, stopping at the bottom of the steps and turning to face Harry with an even brighter smile than before. "We need to celebrate - you and I."

Harry opens his mouth to say something, but all his words die short in his throat. Instead, he lets out a weak sound that sounds like a mixture between a squeal and a laugh, but whatever it is, it's making Louis actually laugh. Harry begins blushing again because, what else does he do when he's around Louis? Harry just settles with a nod and a goofy ass smile, feeling his stomach flutter with an eruption of butterflies when Louis offers his arm for Harry to grab, acting as a true gentleman by leading him through the parking lot to where his car is parked in the back. Harry giggles on the way and ignores the burning stare of Tanner's eyes from across the sidewalk. 

The two make it to Louis' car quickly, and just like before, Louis opens the passenger door for Harry before heading around to the driver's side. Once they're both seated and Louis is pulling out the school lot, Harry turns in the seat to face him. 

"Soooo," he draws out, biting his lip when Louis starts to smile. "Where are you taking me?"

Louis huffs playfully. "It's a secret, Harry - a surprise."

"Well, I can't be out too late. I have to be home for dinner."

"We won't be long," he promises, using his blinker to turn onto the main street. "We're leaving for Napels tonight, anyway so I gotta be back as well."

"You guys have a game?"

Louis nods. "Champions League starts tomorrow," he explains, then hums thoughtfully. "Are you not taking the pictures tomorrow? I thought you got the internship?"

"I did get the internship," Harry sighs, slightly frowning. "I have school I can't miss, and Matt hasn't signed off on any away game forms yet."

"What a shame, then. You'll be missed."

Harry's eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets when he turns to look at Louis again, fidgeting in his spot when all Louis does is smile even brighter and subtly give Harry a wink. Harry shakes his head in confusion and turns to look out the window instead because ... _what?_ When did Louis start saying things like that? Since when does Louis miss Harry? It's stuff like Louis making subtle comments like that and going out of his way to impress Harry that just fucks with Harry's emotions. He's not sure what Louis' intentions are when he does things like this, and Harry isn't sure how he's supposed to react to it. Of course, Harry and Louis got off on the wrong foot, but after the few months of them interacting, Harry has grown quite comfortable with the boy so ultimately, he really shouldn't be surprised when Louis is sweet or nice. It's just hard for Harry to comprehend when one minute Louis acts like a good person to him, and then the next, he's all over the tabloids about some inappropriate things he's done. It's such a contradiction, and Harry feels clueless. 

Like, is Louis flirting with Harry?

Or, is Louis being friendly with Harry?

Hell, is Louis playing a game with Harry?

It's all a big jumbled mess, and Harry's finds himself slowly going back to his sour mood until Louis' voice cuts in. 

"Hey," he says in the midst of the silence, quickly glancing at Harry. "So, I wanted to apologize."

Harry frowns and turns back to Louis. "For what?"

Louis shrugs. "You know, I've been a dick to you a couple of times - a lot, actually, and every time I am, It's never you I'm mad at . I think I just go to you in the height of my anger because I hope that you can calm me down or some shit. I don't know, but you just help me with that kind of stuff."

Harry supposes that maybe what's going on between them _is_ a friendship, and this is a good start to it. 

Harry smiles a little, brushing his hair out of his face and looking straight out the window. "It's okay, Lou. I know I wasn't a ray of sunshine to begin with." He blushes when Louis laughs a little. "I've been a sour puss anytime you do get mad or yell, but I understand that stuff happens."

"Honestly, every time, I just hoped that you would forget, but I knew this conversation was inevitable if we are going to be friends."

Harry hums thoughtfully. "You said you didn't take your pills ... the day I came to the stadium, I heard you." Harry takes in a heady breath and glances at Louis again, feeling his heart rabbiting in his chest and trying his best to not lose his confidence. "I'm not sure what that means, but I've noticed the temper you have, and I also notice that when you have it, I can calm you down from it. It feels kind of a lot to handle, you know?"

Louis' jaw tenses, and his grip on the steering wheel tightens. Harry notices the small motion but doesn't do anything about it. He can tell Louis isn't mad or about to have one of his whiplash change of emotions, instead, it looks like he's troubled, and it makes Harry feel slightly guilty for calling Louis out like this. He didn't want to ruin their moment, they just got together. 

Louis clears his throat, finally. "Well, I _uh_ \- I kinda have anger issues."

"Kinda?" Harry questions, raising his eyebrow, smiling a little.

Louis can breathe when he sees Harry isn't scared, and relaxes back into his seat. "Okay, I _have_ anger issues," he clarifies confidently. "It started when I was younger, and I had to go to the doctors for it. I have some weird disorder, and I need to take pills for it to help keep it level."

"What did they say you have?"

"Well, for sure, I have ADHD, and they said this could be a part of the reason, but it's an anger disorder called intermittent explosive disorder. It's like random outburst of rage or whenever I'm triggered by something. They don't last long, and most of the time I don't remember what the hell I'm doing, but I get really fucking upset afterwards - like once all the anger leaves my body. The medication helps _a lot_ , but you know." 

"You can get triggered by it?" Harry wonders, carefully. "Is your dad a trigger?"

Louis hums. "Yeah," he sighs, twisting his lips. "Really, the medicine does its job." Then Louis gets quieter. "You help me a lot, too."

Heat rushes to Harry's face again, and he tries to distract himself from it by coughing. "I have anxiety," he then blurts out, eyes going wide when the words spit past his lips. Louis raises his eyebrows in amusement and laughs softly, mainly at the quick outburst. Harry finds himself smiling too, relaxing a little. "It started a long time ago, and I went to a therapist for awhile because of it, but I dunno. I still get panic attacks, and I worry too much. I stress a lot, and I drive myself crazy sometimes. It's getting better now that I am getting older, but well ..."

"Do you know what caused your anxiety?"

Harry gulps nervously at the questions and flicks his eyes out the window of the car door. He starts fiddling his fingers with the ends of his shirt and thinks carefully of how he wants to answer the question. It's hard to tell someone so fit and confident that you used to get bullied and made fun of. It's hard hearing hateful words and then having to repeat those said words to someone like Louis. It just makes what they say even more real, and all Harry wants to do is forget about. He wants to move past this moment in his life where he's scared to be himself or nervous to be away from his family or friend. Harry just wants to be confident. 

The question gets forgotten when Harry sees Louis pulling up to an ice cream shop, and his mind goes straight to that. 

"Ice cream?" He nearly squeals, brightening up instantly. 

"It's not a birthday unless you eat a shit ton of it," Louis responds with a cheeky smile. He winks at Harry and then exits the car, jogging around to open Harry's door and offering his hand to help the boy out. Harry gushes, and Louis guides them through the front door of the shop. "Happy Birthday, am I right?" Harry rolls his eyes, but he's smiling like a fool. The two walk up to the counter, and Harry just keeps watching Louis with that same goofy smile as he tells his order. "I want Rolo in a cone, please."

Then, Louis turns to Harry and motions for Harry to order now. "Do you guys still happen to have Christmas Pudding?" Louis snorts at the suggestion, but when the worker nods, Harry's smiling some more. "Perfect, I'll take that in a cone."

Harry and Louis move down the line while the one worker makes the cones and another meets them at the cashier. Louis doesn't even give Harry the chance to offer to pay because he's already offering his card and nudging Harry away. Harry giggles and grabs both the cones once they're made. He starts to lick his own, and then when Louis is turning to him after paying, Harry hands him his ice cream. The two walk over to the nearest table by a window and sit down side by side, licking their ice cream, nibbling on the cone, and glancing around the shop. 

"So, how's your day been?" Louis questions after a moment, glancing at Harry again.

Harry shrugs, idly looking away so he doesn't have to look into Louis' eyes. "It's been decent," he settles with, not entirely too fond of telling Louis that the only reason it's better is because he is now here. That's not entirely _friend-ly._

"Well, that doesn't sound promising," Louis giggles, soon settling into a soft smile. "I wish it could be better for you, though. Every birthday should be fantastic."

Harry smiles in return and finally looks at Louis again, seeing that his bright, blue eyes are once again shining from the sunlight casting through the window. It seems like that's all Harry can do lately, look into Louis' eyes. He notices how much softer Louis' eyes have gotten since they first met and how much Louis' eyes seem to always find his own. There's a small gleam in the corner of them, sparkling every time there's a twinkle of light that hits his iris' just right. It makes Harry's heart skip a beat every time, and like there's an eruption of butterflies in his stomach and a warm thrill running through his veins. It's like Harry can't get enough when all he sees are Louis' eyes, and it's even harder to pull himself away when he notices that his and Louis' faces unconsciously move closer to one another. Because the second Harry inches a little bit closer, he sees that Louis does as well, and Harry feels every hair on his arm standing up in alert because _what the hell is happening right now?_

There's a subtle movement of Louis' eyes flickering down to quickly look at Harry's lips, and if Harry isn't so intent with where Louis is looking, then he would've missed it, but, he didn't because all he can do is stare. Harry also doesn't help matters worse when brings his tongue out to wet those said lips, causing Louis to look back down at them again, inching closer just a little bit more until Harry is taking in a deep, much needed breath before he's coughing and pulling away. 

"It was beyond fantastic," Harry comments with an awkward laugh, nibbling on his lip when Louis' body jolts at the suddenness of his voice. "Niall threw confetti in my face _and_ he brought me cupcakes."

It feels weird now. Harry feels weird now. They almost kissed. Again. It nearly happened again, and Harry's fingers and toes are tingling anxiously with want and regret. 

Louis smiles weakly at the comment, and Harry leaves it at that. The two continue to eat their ice creams while Harry leans back in his chair to casually look out the window. He can see Hyde Park from where he's at, sees it across the street and sees the playground that he first met Louis' little sisters at. It brings a small smile to Harry's face at the memory, and he tries his best to not ruin the memory about what else happened the first time he met those little girls. Instead, he looks past the park and glances at the bridge, feeling an odd sense of comfort when he sees the long post running along the railing of the bridge. 

"What are you thinking about?" Louis suddenly asks, nudging Harry's shin with his shoe. 

It's Harry's turn to jump, but he covers it up with a little giggle. "I zoned out, but I was thinking that I should probably head home soon."

Louis agrees with a hum and finishes the rest of the ice cream by shoving the last bits of the waffle cone in his mouth. He grabs a couple of napkins to wipe their table down and then gives a few to Harry once he finishes as well. The two leave shortly after, and Louis guides Harry back to his car, opens the door for him, and starts to drive the boy home. 

//

Harry gives Louis a hug over the console before he's walking into the house. "I'm home," he calls out. There's silence, and Harry frowns. "Anyone home?"

Silence again. 

Harry huffs and tosses his stuff off to the side so he can go into the living room. He figures his mum is still out at work so the best thing he can do right now is watch television until she gets home. Harry isn't entirely sure what all he's even supposed to do tonight with his mum, or his family, but he ends up sitting in the house for four hours alone until he sees bright head lights through the windows. Harry turns the television off and turns towards the front door to hear soft giggles soon getting closer. Harry lifts his eyebrow and waits until the door is opening and his mother is walking in the house with her eyes glued to her phone. 

Harry frowns and checks the time, seeing that it's late in the evening. "Mum," Harry calls out, a little bite to his tone. "Where have you been?"

It's one thing for Anne to come home late because of work, or maybe because of Robin, but it's another thing to just completely miss your son's seventeenth birthday. It hurts, and Harry feels worthless. 

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," she apologizes. She sets her phone in her purse and walks over to where Harry is sitting on the couch. "I met Robin for dinner."

Harry frowns some more. "I haven't seen you all day, mum."

"I know, I'm sorry," she sighs, genuinely sound upset with herself. She joins Harry on the couch and moves her hand to his hair. "I brought you a present. I know it's not much, but here you go. It should come in a few days." She pulls a piece of paper out of her purse and hands something to Harry - it's a receipt for the newest photography camera. 

Harry brightens up instantly. "Really?" He squeals, even louder when she nods her head. "Wow, thank you, mum."

Anne laughs as she hugs Harry back. "Of course, sweetheart. I love you."

Harry's eyes water instantly when he hears those three words, feeling everything inside his body completely warm up. It's been awhile since he's heard his mother say she loved him, and every fiber inside of Harry's just craving more of his mother's affection. He can't help that he tears up, but he does, and he snuggles himself further into his mother's chest. It's nice and it's warm, and its the best birthday present he's received all day. 

"Love you too, mummy."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 77 Likes**

**NiallHoran:** My best friend. My partner in crime. Happy Birthday little one. 

**HarryStyles commented:** I am not little ... 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **New Characters:**  
>  \- Claire -> Harry's cousin. They used to be neighbors back in Cheshire before Harry had to move to London.   
> \- Jake -> Niall's friend. They have Year Book together while Jake and Harry have math together.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens in this chapter. Some of it can be slightly triggering so please be cautious. There is homophobic language, and minor suicidal thoughts. It's really minor, and the word isn't actually used in the chapter, but it's a brief consideration the character has. There's also the mention of past-rape attempt via a flashback. Please read this chapter with cautions, and if anyone needs to talk after reading it, just let me know! (:
> 
> I want to make sure everyone is safe.

_"Come here," is a breathless whisper from Louis, tickling warmly against Harry's ear and sending a sharp shiver down the length of his spine._

_Harry covers his mouth to hide the soft, light giggle that comes out, but then the laugh turns right into a moan when he feels warm lips pressing kisses up against the column of his neck before teeth start to nibble on his ear. Harry closes his eyes and rolls his head to the side, biting on his bottom lip when hot hands are snaking around his waist to press against his stomach. Harry shivers again, and he opens his eyes to look down at those said hands to see tan skin contrasting against the pale color of his belly. Harry smiles and is turning around in the arms holding him, hands quickly coming up to caress the face he is now looking at and feeling those tan hands lower on his back._

_"Lou," Harry gasps._

_He moves his hands from Louis' face and trails them down to his chest. He blinks a couple of times and looks into the brightness of those blue eyes while his fingers trace around the outline of Louis' naked pec before they are going lower to his belly. Harry smirks again and looks down in between their bodies, sighing loudly when he sees a prominent bulge pushing through the thin material of the boxers. Harry lets out a shaky breath and looks back up, eyes hooded as Louis jolts his hips forward so they're pressing right up against Harry's._

_Fuck, Harry wants him._

_"Please," Harry then whines, biting on his bottom lip again and begging Louis to do something, anything by just the look of his eyes._

_Louis raises a testing eyebrow at Harry, hands dipping even lower until they're right under the curve of Harry's ass. With a rough squeeze, Harry's body jerks just a little, and Louis' hands start to dig in deeper to the flesh before he's lifting Harry up against his body. Harry's breathless as he gets pulled up, legs wrapping around Louis' waist while his fingers tangle in the back of Louis' head. Once Louis has a solid hold of Harry, he leans forward and attacks Harry's lips with his own, mindlessly walking forward until Harry's back is slamming up against the wall. Harry's giggle gets sucked away with a tongue going into his mouth, and he gasps when he gets the feel of Louis' tongue rubbing along his own._

_"Oh, Louis," Harry moans when Louis moves his lips to the line of Harry's jaw._

_Louis begins nibbling on the skin there before he's trailing them lower. He makes contact with the dip of Harry's shoulder and he starts sucking on Harry's sensitive skin. Harry tosses his head back against the wall when another moan belts out of him, and his legs unconsciously tighten around Louis when he feels a hot thrill of pleasure rushing to his groin. It's too much, but it's also not enough. Louis' hands are everywhere on his ass, and his lips are everywhere on his skin. He feels himself getting desperate the longer nothing happens, and he's just about ready to cry until he finally - finally feels Louis' fingers inching even closer to the middle of his ass. He feels Louis' finger continue to inch closer and closer, already clenching around nothing just for the anticipation of finally getting some part of Louis inside his body._

_Right when Harry feels the warm air of Louis' finger breach his hole, he yells._

"Fuck!" Harry jolts right out of his covers and sits up on his bed. His breath is heaving in large gasps of breaths, and he feels his skin prickling with sweat and his fingers cramping from how tightly he's clenching the sheets. Harry shakes his head and looks around the room for a second, trying to regain a sense of where he is. 

It's morning. He's in his room. There's sunlight filtering in through the curtains, and he just had a wet dream. Great. 

"Harry!" he then hears his mother yelling from downstairs, causing him to jolt again. "Get down here, please. We need to talk."

He groans as he looks at his phone to see what time it is. Half an hour past six. 

Harry frowns and throws the rest of the covers off his body. He starts to mindlessly rub out the sleep from his eyes while he slings his legs off the bed to get up, but the minute he's standing on his feet, he feels a heavy weight right at his groin. With another groan, Harry removes his hands from his eyes and looks down, letting out a frustrated sigh when he sees his cock tenting through his pajama pants. 

He's hard. _Shit. Shit. Shit._

"Oh no," He whines, tilting his head back and staring at the ceiling with a frown. "What the heck do I do?" he then asks the sky, furrowing his eyebrows together in annoyance. 

Harry huffs and looks back down at his pants, nibbling on his fingers because honestly, he isn't sure what he _is_ supposed to do. He knows normal teenage boys just jack off and be done with it, but well, Harry isn't a normal teenager. He doesn't like touching himself. He doesn't like jacking off, and fuck, he doesn't like fingering himself so now that he's woken with a boner, he has no idea how he's supposed to get rid of it. Most of the time he wakes up in the morning with jizz already in his boxers, meaning that whatever he subconsciously does in his sleep helps him release without him actually having to be conscious to do. Like honestly, what the hell was Harry even dream about? With a groan, it's then he remembers. 

"Louis," he rolls his eyes. 

Harry was having a hot, not-so-wet dream about Louis, and well, now he has a problem. A _big_ problem, and he doesn't know how to fix it - or make it go away. So against Harry's better judgement, he grabs his phone off of his bed and quickly pulls Google up so he can search on how to get rid of a morning boner without actually touching himself. 

Harry's able to breathe a little better when the first result that pops up is something that he can easily do. 

"A cold shower," Harry recites, smiling widely in excitement. "I can do that."

Harry tosses his phone back on the bed and scurries off to the washroom so he can start his morning routine. Luckily, he always starts his day with a shower, so this works perfectly for him to get rid of his boner. After he's cleaned off and dressed in clothes - a floral shirt, black skinnies, and white high tops - he rushes out his room and heads down the stairs to see his mother is already impatiently waiting for him at the dining table. Harry's steps slow down when he sees the scowl on her face, and he pauses at the door to the kitchen when her suddenly cold eyes glance his way. 

"Harry, please sit down."

Harry frowns, but he follows the order. "What's going on, mum?"

With a heady sigh, Anne unveils her hands on the table and exposes the brochure she was hiding. "You left these on the table," she explains with a grunt. She sighs again and reclines in her chair, shaking her head with such a disappointed look on her face. "Harry, I told you that photography is not a career. It's just a hobby. You need to stop looking at these photography schools and start looking at Universities instead. Registrations for it will be opening up soon, and once it's passed, it'll be hard for you to get enrolled."

"But mum," Harry whines, reaching for that said brochure and holding it up in front of him. "This place is the absolute best for photography. It launches so many careers -"

"It's expensive," she interrupts a little too aggressive. "And I don't accept it. You're going to go to a real university, and you're going to get you a proper degree to help you find a solid career. This photography is something you can do on the side, but I'm not wasting any money on something that's such a deadbeat job."

Harry rolls his eyes, emitting a groan that can be considered borderline disrespectful. "Why can't you see this is what I want to do with my life, mum? It's my _passion_."

"Harry, _damn it_ ," Anne finally snaps. She slams her hands on the table and causes Harry to flinch. "I told you I'm not wasting my bloody money on this broken dream of yours. This will not make you successful at all. You will apply to a University, and you'll be done with that. There's no questions about it. You are not going to photography school, and _that is final_. By the end of the month, I _better_ see at least three different schools you plan to apply to. Do I make myself clear?"

"But -"

"I said, _do I make myself clear_?"

Harry holds his mother's stare for a couple of seconds before he's finally feeling his anger rush to the surface. With a loud groan, Harry belts out "This is bullshit."

"Excuse me?" Anne cocks her head back, a twitch to her eyebrow. 

Harry doesn't realize what he's said, and he briefly falters for a second at his mother's tone before the anger he feels builds up his confidence. "I said this is bullshit," he repeats more clear, eyes hardening. He slams his own his hands on the table and abruptly stands up, causing the chair to scoot backwards and squeak against the hardwood. "You know, I never get what I want, _ever._ This is the one thing in my life that I can actually see myself doing, and _I love it_. As my mother, I would expect you to support me instead of drag me down, but that seems like that's all you can do. So yes, this is bullshit to me."

Harry doesn't wait to hear what his mother has to say because he's turning around and storming out the kitchen. He grabs his backpack off the end table near the front door and stomps his way out the house. It's one of those days where Harry's thankful he walks to school because he uses this trip to hopefully calm himself down. He's able to finally breathe calmly by the time he walks up the front of Collingham, and there's no longer a scowl set on his face, but he still feels the dampened mood inside his body so when he sees Niall at his locker already, he walks the other way and decides to hide in the bathroom for awhile. He knows Niall will pick up on his sour mood and start to interrogate him, and that right now is the last thing Harry wants. He needs to be alone, and he needs to clear his mind so he skips his first class, makes it through the next few, then skips lunch and French. He makes it to math afterwards and trudges to his seat. He still feels gloomy, but since he doesn't have Niall, or even Tanner, to worry about, he sits in the desk and slumps.

Unfortunately, Jake is turning to him. 

"Hey, Harry, are you okay?"

Harry closes his eyes with a sigh. "Just lovely," he sasses, opening his eyes and staring straight ahead. 

"Oh, come on," Jake continues, reaching across to playfully nudge Harry. Harry doesn't budge, and Jake sighs. "You're too pretty to be so gloomy."

Harry's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, or maybe distaste, and turns to look at Jake. "That's too bad then," he snaps. He turns back to the front of the class and doesn't bother making any effort to talk to the boy for the rest of the class. Thankfully, Jake doesn't make an effort as well. 

However, Harry isn't so lucky when he leaves this class because he can see Tanner across the hallway already walking towards him. Since Harry skipped French, Tanner's probably on a high right now to figure out why so he pushes through the crowd and quickly catches up to Harry when Harry turns to go down the opposite way. 

Harry's sour mood must been shown on his face because the second Tanner is in his space, he says, "Poor, Harry. Were you not a good enough fuck toy for Louis? You know, I saw the two of you on your birthday together."

"You'd want to know," he mumbles under his breath. 

Harry tries to quicken his pace to get away from Tanner, but Tanner is aggressively pressing his hand on Harry's shoulder to keep him right in his place. 

"Don't be so gay, Harry," Tanner suggest with a snarky tone, causing Harry's blood to turn cold. "Honestly, he probably wants a girl to sit on his dick rather than a boy who just looks like one." Tanner starts laughing again, condescendingly, and continues to pat Harry's shoulder. Harry's eyes harden and he tries his hardest to bite his tongue, but his fingers that are clenching on tightly to his books is about to send him on overdrive. "Wow," Tanner then mutters, eyes flicking down to Harry's hand. "Nails are a bit faggish don't you think?"

Harry suddenly stops walking and feels his breath stop short in his chest. He looks down at where his fingers are digging into his books and has every ounce of color, life, happiness, everything just completely drain out of his body. He's nails are still painted. He forgot to remove the color this morning, and now he's out in public with it. Harry's breath stutters in his throat, and he feels frozen to his spot while he just stupidly stares at the pink color. Tears immediately start to swell up in Harry's eyes, and his heart begins beating erratically in his chest, almost like it's just about ready to pop past his rib cage. 

"It's amazing. You really are the most queer person in this school," Tanner continues to edge, even reaching out to grab Harry's hand. Harry blinks, tears now rolling down his cheek, and he rips his hand away from Tanner's hold. He tries to hastily wipe the water out from underneath his eyes and look away from Tanner, but Tanner is gripping the sides of Harry's face and jerking it back towards his own. "Don't cry, dear, you'll look more like a pussy than you already do."

It's the last thing Harry can handle before he cracks. 

Harry lets out a choked sob, feeling more embarrassment flush his body when he realizes there are people now around them idly watching the two of them, and he ends up abruptly pushing Tanner out of his way so he can run away. He knows he can't go home because his home feels absolutely nothing like a home, and he knows he can't seek out Niall because Niall will just continuously try to find answers. He realizes in this moment, as he runs out the front door of the school, that he has _nobody_. Absolutely nobody he can go to, so he ends up running to the one place he does feel accepted at. He runs to the place that he always goes to when he feels like he's drowning in his emotions, and it's then when he makes it to Hyde Park, staring at the bridge, that he realizes this place feels more like home than anything else, and that's as sad as it can get. 

Harry breathes out a sigh of relief when there isn't a lot of people around and walks to the end of the bridge. He rest his elbows on top of the post and presses his hands to his face so he can just _relax._ Now that he's away from the weight of school and he's alone, he can finally breathe. Harry can just stand there, at the bridge, and just look out at the scenery ahead. Listening to the roll of the water over the rocks down below and the chirp of the birds from up above. It's calming, and it brings Harry down from the height of the emotions he feels clouding his head, and he's finally found a place where he can just think. Harry can feel free now, and he doesn't have to worry about any of the outside shit that likes to pester him on a daily. 

_What if I jump?_ Harry suddenly thinks, feeling a strange pull in his chest that makes him step slightly away from the post. 

It's a reoccurring thought he has every time he comes here, but he always buries it to the back of his head almost as soon as it enters his mind. It's scary to think about, and it's a very morbid feeling that runs through his bones where he finds himself actually considering it at times. Harry knows he'll be free from everything if he actually does it, but he also isn't sure if it's worth it. Harry isn't even sure if thinking about jumping is worth it because every time that he does, he feels himself dip even lower into this dark place that he's been trying so hard to escape. 

"Hey, you're not going to jump are you?"

Harry jumps at the sudden voice and turns his body around at the sound, frowning when he sees Louis approaching him. 

"The lake below is pretty shallow, and I promise there are a lot more fun things to do than to do _that_."

Harry appreciates the lame attempt at Louis being silly, but there's also the fact that Harry has actually thought about it so he can't find himself even smiling. He just turns back to the post on the bridge and looks ahead of him again. 

"I'm not going to jump," he grumbles.

Louis' eyebrows shoot up his forehead when he hears the sadness laced with Harry's voice, and he walks closer until he resting in the same position as Harry. Harry breathes shakily when Louis gets next to him, and he can feel the weight of Louis' eyes glued to the side of his face that makes himself go back to being emotional. Immediately, tears start to fill his eyes again, and he hastily reaches his hands up to start rubbing at his eyes.

"Hey, woah, why are you crying?" Louis then questions worriedly, scooting closer until his chest is pressing against Harry's side. Louis watches carefully as Harry starts to cave in on himself so he wraps his arms around Harry's body and pulls him in. Instantly, Harry melts in Louis' hold, and he's hiding his face in the crook of Louis' neck and using his comforting arms as a way to somewhat relax. "Harry, babe, what's wrong? What's going on?"

Harry laughs bitterly and pulls his face away a little. "Life," he responds, shaking his head and looking off to the side so he can avoid Louis' pitiful eyes. 

With a soft sigh, Louis asks, "Do you want to come back to my place?" He smiles weakly when Harry finally turns to look at him again. "I just got done getting ice cream with my sisters, and I think there's still some leftover cookies at my flat. It's a good distraction."

"Yeah, okay," Harry agrees with a quick, brief smile. 

Louis nods his head and keeps his arm wrapped around Harry's neck as he guides him away from the bridge and towards his car parked on the street. Louis opens the passenger door for Harry and waits for the boy to get safely inside before he's going around to the driver's side. He begins driving away from Hyde Park while Harry finally loosens up in his seat. Harry briefly glances at the side of Louis face and finds himself smiling a little bit more now that Louis' here before he's turning to look out the window. Harry sighs and watches as the various buildings pass by his line of sight until his distraction switches over to his phone. With a frown, he pulls it from his pocket and reads the message Niall sent him. 

_Harry you weren't in_ _english, lunch, or photography. Where the hell are you? Are you okay? I know something is wrong, and I know you were at school today._

Harry rolls his eyes and sends his reply back. 

_I'm fine. Don't worry about me._

Harry sets his phone in his lap and now sees that they made it to Louis' flat. Louis pulls into his car spot and shuts the car off before he turns to look at Harry carefully. "We're here," he announces the obvious. "You good?"

Harry looks up into Louis' eyes and tries to let the soft blue relax him even more, but the silence that drags on in between them starts to make Harry remember the kind of dream he woke up to this morning, and he has to quickly look away. 

"Let's just go," Harry gulps, opening the door and hastily getting out the car. 

Louis says no more and leads the way to the elevator. They get up to Louis' flat, and Louis doesn't bother pushing Harry into speaking if he isn't ready. Instead, he tosses the television remote Harry's way and goes into the kitchen to grab a bunch of snacks for the two of them. He meets Harry in the living room where he's already sitting in the corner of the leather couch. He has his legs propped up on the coffee table and the movie listings on the screen. Harry glances up when Louis comes bearing chips, cookies, a bowl of fruit, and a liter of soda. Harry smiles thankfully and invites Louis to sit next to him by patting the cushion. They end up watching movies for the next few hours in a comfortable silence. They eventually had to pull the blankets and the pillows out so their movie night can be a little bit more snug, and by the time they are on their fourth movie, Louis looks over and sees that Harry's eyes are closed. 

Gently, Louis shakes him awake. "Hey, love, it's getting kind of late, and you have school tomorrow," he whispers, biting his lip when Harry slowly blinks his eyes open. "You probably need to go to bed or something. Do you need a ride back to your house?"

Harry groans softly, and Louis finds himself brushing a curl behind Harry's ear with a smile. 

"I don't want to go home," he responds finally, rubbing at his eyes and feeling a warm rush through his veins from where Louis' soft fingers delicately touch his cheek. "I'm trying to avoid my mum right now. We had a fight this morning."

Louis hums thoughtfully. "Well, you can stay here if you want. You can borrow a shirt from me, and I can drop you off tomorrow at school."

Harry nods his head, and they both finally detangle themselves from the blankets. They get into Louis' bedroom, and Louis gives Harry some extra clothes of his for Harry to sleep in and then an extra toothbrush for his teeth. Harry thanks him softly and goes into the bathroom to get himself changed and ready for bed. Once he finishes, he walks back out into Louis' bedroom to already see Louis laying in bed and waiting for Harry to join him so he can turn the light off. Harry smiles bashfully and walks to the other side of the mattress, slowly crawling under the sheets and laying on his side so he can face Louis. Louis then turns the lights out and matches Harry's position. 

"So you want to talk about it?" Louis questions in the dark, inching just a little bit closer to Harry. "Sometimes it's easier to speak when no one can see you."

Harry lets out a deep breath, but he reluctantly agrees. "It started this morning," he begins slowly, already feeling water return to his eyes. He hastily wipes at them and sniffles. "My mum and I argued about me going to photography school because she wants me to go to a _real_ university but _I don't want to._ I h-hate school, Louis. I hate it so much, and it makes me so miserable." 

Harry's crying by the time he finishes, and Louis' scoots himself close enough to the boy that he can easily bring his hands up to caress the sides of Harry's face. He instantly starts wiping at all the tears running down his cheeks. "What else, Harry?" he questions, sounding slightly worried and anxious. "I found you at the park before school lets out so did anything happen there?"

Harry closes his eyes for a brief second and then opens them back up with a loud sigh. "Tanner happened," he barely whispers. 

Harry can feel Louis' body tense up before his eyes adjust in the dark to see it, and he _almost_ regrets saying something about it, but something about Louis getting a little angry makes Harry feels slightly better. 

"What'd he do, H?" Louis asks sternly. He lifts his body off the bed and angles himself like he's about to leave and go fight the boy, but Harry quickly coaxes him back down by wrapping his hands around Louis' arms. 

Louis relaxes _immediately._

"It's fine, Lou," he eases, breathing in slowly and keeping his hold. "He just _uh_ \- he just said some stuff to me."

"Okay, well, does he bully you or something? This is the second time he's done shit to you."

"I don't know," Harry huffs, deflating. Louis raises his eyebrow and test Harry with a look, and even in the dark, Harry can tell he can't get away without explaining more. Finally, he gives in. "Tanner is actually my ex-boyfriend."

Louis jolts up again in surprise. 

"What?" he nearly yells. 

Harry laughs nervously and squeezes Louis' arm just a little bit tighter. "Yeah, we were together in Year 10," he begins to explain, swallowing down the nerves he feels rising. "It was super complicated and the worst. I don't even know why we were together. I guess I was just happy a boy finally talked to me and wanted to be with me, but I never liked him, truly. He wasn't romantic, and we never went on dates. He just always yelled at me, belittled me, even demanded me to do shit for him."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was horrible so when I broke up with him, he reacted bad, like, _really_ bad. He kept calling me names. He started horrid rumors about me. He did everything he could to make me look like the worse coming out of the breakup. It only lasted for awhile, and then he sort of stopped, but he recently started doing it again. Like today. He just kept jabbing at me and making derogatory comments about me, and he knew I was already upset so he just pushed me over the edge."

Louis scoffs as he leans back down on the bed, furrowing his eyebrows together. "Well, what happened for you to break up with him?"

Harry gulps, and he begins to tell the story. 

//

_"Come on, Harry," Tanner complains, angrily tossing his hands in the air as he rounds his bed to deflect Harry from leaving. "We've been together for four months now. Don't you fucking love me?"_

_No, Harry thinks to himself, caving in on himself when Tanner steps closer to him. Harry doesn't even know what love is at this point, and he definitely doesn't believe he's in love with Tanner. They barely know each other, and Harry's only fourteen years old. He's inexperienced and young, and Tanner is the last person he even wants to think about doing anything with._

_"I'm not ready," is what Harry settles with._

_It's sex. Harry couldn't have sex with Tanner, and the thought alone just makes Harry feel nauseous. Harry wants his first time to be with someone he loves, and he wants it to be special. There's nothing special nor romantic when it comes to Tanner so Harry can't give his body up like that to this boy. Thinking about it is terrifying to Harry, and he feel his anxiety reaching an all time high even when Tanner doesn't back down._

_"Fine," Tanner grumbles in response, but instead of moving out the way for Harry to leave, he steps closer. He reaches up and holds on to Harry's face and pulls him down so they can kiss, so Tanner can try to make Harry forget. Except, Harry hates kissing Tanner. He hates the feeling of it, and he never wants Tanner's lips to ever touch him again. Kissing shouldn't be like that. It shouldn't make Harry feel this uncomfortable in his skin, but it does. And when Tanner starts to guide Harry back to the bed, pressing him down on the mattress and shoving his tongue in Harry's mouth, Harry feels like he's about ready to crawl out of his body._

_"Tanner," Harry complains, retracting his head and looking away to stop the kissing, but Tanner doesn't stop. He continues to kiss the side of Harry's neck, and his hands find their way down Harry's body until they are playing with the buckle on Harry's pants. "Tanner," Harry warns again._

_"I know. I know. Baby steps."_

_Harry sighs, but he reluctantly lets Tanner kiss him again. It's back to being harmless, Tanner's hands going back to Harry's face, but it only last for a couple of seconds before Tanner starts trying to pressure again. The kiss turns naughty in a matter of seconds. He shoves his tongue past Harry's lips and licks his way inside his mouth while his hands find their way back to Harry's buckle._

_"Tan- Stop," Harry nearly cries._

_Tanner doesn't budge. He presses his lips harder against Harry's to ground him to his spot, and his fingers start anxiously undoing the button of Harry's pants. He easily pops them open and starts pushing the jeans down Harry's struggling legs, smirking into the next kiss as he gets the pants far enough past Harry's ass._

_"Please," Harry whines. He rips his face away from Tanner's and tries deflecting every kiss that he tries to give. He has his hands digging in to Tanner's biceps to get him off, but Tanner is stronger to where Harry's effort do absolutely nothing._

_Harry cries out one more time, and Tanner finally pulls his body away so there's a small inch of space in between them. Harry can finally breathe again when he doesn't feel the weight of Tanner's body so close to his, and right when Harry thinks he's free from Tanner, Tanner ends up diving back in. Harry doesn't know when Tanner had pulled his sweats off, but he notices that Tanner is now bare, and his growing cock is now pressing against his inner thigh. Harry's anxiety increases again when he feels the flesh on his skin, and he tries putting more effort in to pushing Tanner off when Tanner manages to get his hands inside of Harry's boxers, and with a loud laugh coming from Tanner, he continues to touch Harry more. Harry starts breathing erratically when Tanner puts in more effort to yank Harry's clothes off his body, and when Harry feels that his lower half is now exposed and too close to Tanner's private bits, he starts to fully freak out._

_"Stop! Please, stop!" Harry starts thrashing his body around with tears falling down his face. He tries kicking and punching at Tanner's chest, but with one hand pressing on his hip and the other on his cock, Tanner continues to pin Harry to his spot. "Please!"_

_There's a wet sound from where Tanner is pumping himself, and Harry's eyes nearly bulge out their sockets when he sees just how close Tanner really is to breaching him open._

_"GET OFF," Harry finally screams. With all his might, Harry brings his knee up to slam into Tanner's stomach and using his grunt in pain as his advantage to push Tanner off of him. Once Harry is free, he scrambles off the bed and rushes to grab his clothes._

_On his way out the room, Tanner flops on the bed and calls out "You're going to regret that, virgin" before Harry is slamming the door._

_//_

  
  


There's a beat of silence, and then, "He forced you to have sex?" Louis shoots up from the bed and instantly sees red. "Fuck, you were only fourteen years old, and he tried that shit with you?"

"He didn't actually do it though," Harry tries to ease, but Louis is too fired up. He sighs and sits up himself, carefully looking at Louis' face in the dark and gently reaching to hold on to his arm. "I promise, he didn't actually do it," he repeats, biting his lip when Louis relaxes just a little. "I think the only reason he even bothers me now is because I've met you. He's made some comments about you."

Louis falters a little. "About me?" he questions. 

"Yeah, he just makes stupid sexual comments."

"He's jealous," Louis admits. 

"There's nothing to even be jealous of."

The words sting, but Louis knows there's truth to it. He knows there is a weird vibe when it comes to his relationship with Harry, but he doesn't think anything will actually happen with it. They're friends, and in all honesty, that's all Louis can really see them being as. 

"I mean, it's not that big of a deal," Harry says after a few seconds. He sees Louis is relaxing now and laying back so he does the same, both of their heads falling on their respected pillows. "I only have a few more months to deal with him, and then I'm graduating. I can survive."

Louis rolls his eyes. "It still doesn't mean I like the guy. This is the second time he's fucked with you - third, now that you've told me your past with him."

"There's just some things in life you can't control, Lou," Harry responds with a shrug, pouting a little. 

"That's bullshit."

"Please, just leave it alone? I don't want to keep thinking about it." 

Louis sighs defeatedly. "Harry -" he tries, but Harry interrupts him. 

"You don't need to protect me, Lou."

Harry tries to sound confident when he says it, but he knows he absolutely doesn't mean it. Honestly, Harry would love to have anyone swoop in to protect him from time to time, just so he didn't have to tackle the world on his own. Most of all, Harry would definitely enjoy the protection if it's coming from Louis. In the short few months that they've gotten to know each other, Harry's starting to realize that Louis does care for him in a nice, friendly way, and it's comforting to know that Harry now has another person he can go to besides just relying on Niall. It's nice.

Louis scoffs. "You know, there are a lot of things I _don't need_ to do, but I do anyways."

Harry giggles in response and suddenly feels it turn into a yawn. He briefly closes his eyes when he starts to feel the weight of the day draining his body and rolls on to his back. "Let's just go to sleep," he mutters, opening one eye and glancing at Louis, smiling a little when Louis rolls his eyes at the dropped topic before he's rolling to his other side and closing his eyes. 

//

The following morning, Harry finds himself wearing some loose clothings of Louis' to school. He got lent an exclusive Chelsea jumper, one that Harry spent hours refusing to actually wear, and then kept the same jeans from the day before. He was able to take a quick morning shower and scratch off the majority of his nail polish so ultimately, his impromptu sleepover at Louis' wasn't the worse. He even got a black beanie to wear over his hair so his wild curls wouldn't be too all over the place since he didn't have his normal hair products. It was kind of a _nice_ morning for the two of them. Especially considering when Harry was the first to wake, he realized he was cuddled right up against Louis' chest. It was different, and Harry's never cuddled someone like that in the morning, but it was even more confusing when he realized that even in his sleep, Louis was holding on to Harry just as tightly as Harry was supposedly holding on to him. 

It was nice, but it was also _different._

"Thanks for driving me to school," Harry says when Louis pulls up to the front entrance of Collingham. He causally turns his body just a little and offers Louis a smile.

"No problem." Louis smiles in return. "Just let me know if anything else happens today, okay?" Harry opens his mouth to refuse, but Louis' already cutting in. "I know, I can't protect you or whatever, but _please,_ just let me know."

"Fine," Harry grumbles, trying his hardest to not let his affection show. He thinks he fails when his face starts heading up so he tries hiding it by ducking out the car. 

Once Harry's on the curb, he glances at Louis one last time before he's turning with the crowd of students and walking towards the front entrance of the school. He gets as far as the stairs until he sees Tanner expectedly waiting by the post at the bottom step, look smug and cockily with the way he was leaning his body against the object and smacking his gum obnoxiously. Harry slows his steps when he sees him, and he has to try his hardest to suppress his groan when Tanner pushes himself off the post just to walk straight towards him. 

"Well, well, well," Tanner nearly sings, pulling the sunglass off his nose and putting them on top of his fringe. "You get a ride from lover boy _and_ you're wearing his clothes. Looks like that trip to Hyde Park yesterday got you more than what you bargained for. Did you scream this time when he -"

"Tanner, shut the hell up," Harry finally snaps, nearly screaming the words out as he clenches his eyes together, fingers balled in a fist and a rush of anger flowing through him. He lets out an unsteady breath and opens his eyes again, faintly seeing Tanner falter just a little. "Louis and I are _not_ together so stop being such a jealous prick."

Harry thinks he gets his point across when he sees the small jolt of surprise cross Tanner's features, but the look is gone almost as soon as it comes, and it quickly washes away to anger. In a matter of seconds, Tanner growls and grips the collar of Harry's hoodie, using it so he can aggressively push Harry across the sidewalk until he is pinning him up against the post at the bottom of the steps. 

"What was that, _fag_?" He growls in Harry's face. 

Harry's eyes widen when he sees a bunch of students around starting to gather around to watch, and he feels his heart starting to beat even faster when Tanner presses Harry even harder to the post. 

"Y-you're a fag, too," Harry argues back, furrowing his brows when the students around them suddenly start whispering loudly about something, but he doesn't have time to actually listen to what they say because suddenly, there's a fist colliding with his eye, and he's falling down to the ground. 

Harry chokes on his spit when his ass hits the cement of the sidewalk, and his hands immediately go up to cover his throbbing eye that Tanner just punched. He then uses his free eye to look up at Tanner and everyone around, feeling embarrassed and flushed with all who is watching. He hears a sharp ringing sound in between his ears that's making his head spin, and there's a dull, persistent throbbing coming from his right eye, but all this anxiousness that he's feeling starts to increase some more when he sees Louis pushing through the crowd of the students to target Tanner. 

"What the fuck, man?" Louis grunts. 

Tanner's cocky attention turns right towards him when he approaches the area. "Oh, look," he calls out, laughing out to the crowd. "It's the fuck boy -"

He's silence when Louis throws a punch right at his nose. 

The crowd around gasps in shock, and Tanner's now the one falling to the ground clutching the area he just got punched. Harry, on the other hand, feels his eyes widen - well, his one eye widen - and slowly stands to his feet when Louis looks about ready to continue attacking Tanner. 

"Louis - Louis, stop," he nearly yells, rushing over to Louis' side and using one hand to rip Louis out of the way. Harry feels blood rushing to the surface and the world starting to spin, but with the small amount of control he feels inside of him, he knows he needs to get Louis far from Tanner. He ends up dragging Louis out of the mass of people surrounding them and finds that Louis' car is still parked in the same spot. Harry sighs frustratedly and starts to drag Louis over there, ignoring the groan of protest coming from Louis the farther away he gets from Tanner. Once they are away from the students, and it's just the two of them, Harry stands in front of Louis and snaps his fingers in front of Louis' face. "Hey, snap out of it. Stop."

Louis' wild, blue eyes then settle crazily on Harry. "Stop?" he belts out, raising his one hand in Tanner's direction. "Are you kidding me?" he then laughs bitterly, shaking his head. "Harry, he punched you, in front of everyone. I should be fucking killing him."

Louis tries to move past Harry to go after Tanner again, but Harry easily side steps him and prevents him from doing so. 

"Harry," Louis complains, making another attempt, this time slightly more aggressive. 

"Louis, I told you to fucking _stop_."

The snap in Harry's tone seems to make Louis focus because the wildness of his blue eyes finally calms down, and they're once again settling on Harry's face. Louis instantly softens when he sees the bruise that's now forming on Harry's face where Tanner punched him, and he feels everything inside him suddenly deflate. "Haz, your eye," he whispers weakly, attempting to reach up and touch it, but with a harsh look, Harry slaps at his hand. 

"You've got to be kidding me?" Harry snaps. He takes a step away from Louis and hardens his eye, using his free hand to cover the other so Louis doesn't feel obliged to look at it. "Just stop acting like this, okay? Stop doing this - stop pretending to care."

"Harry -" Louis attempts again, but with much force, Harry refrains. 

"I said _stop._ "

Harry's breathing heavily by the time theres a small distance between the two of them. He can feel an influx of different emotions clouding his mind right now, and he doesn't know whether to be sad or mad or in pain or happy or what. He's just confused and overwhelmed. Harry has no idea what to make out of the situation, and everything happened so quickly that he has no idea how to handle it. One minute he's getting out of Louis' car, and then the next he's getting punched, and then Tanner's getting punched, and then there's so many people getting punched, and there's way too many people outside watching all of them - watching Harry - and Harry feels the most uncomfortable in his life, and it's just all _too fucking much._

"You know, you play with my head. You play with it all the time, and I never know what I'm supposed to get from you. I don't know whether you're going to yell at me, or be nice to me, or be a dick to me, or flirt with me. It seems like you never know who you want me to be, and then you go off and do something stupid like punch Tanner because of me."

"Harry -"

"And I freaking hate it," Harry continues, now feeling the tears in his eyes, but he doesn't back down. If there is one emotion he can hold on to, it's anger. "I hate it so much, Louis because there are moments where I actually believe you can genuinely care about me and can be nice, but you're the most confusing person in the world, and it drives me crazy. So. Just. Stop. You're not my freaking boyfriend. You don't need to use me as your lame excuse to punch somebody."

Louis' speechless when Harry's finished, and he can feel the previous anger he was feeling now returning to the surface. All he wanted to do was defend Harry, but for once when his punch is good, he still gets shit from it. It hurts the most that it's coming from Harry, and it hurts the most to see how angry and disappointed and upset Harry is looking back at him right now, and Louis wasn't even the one who fucking punched him. 

With a slow, heavy breath, Louis tosses his hands up. "You know what, you're right," he replies calmly, too calmly, making the hairs on Harry's arms stand. "Who am I to help you out? Clearly you have everything handled, Harry. Enjoy your shitty life because I'm not longer taking part of it. Fuck this."

Harry stands in his place, bottom lip wobbling, and watching Louis rush inside his car before he's zooming out the parking lot. 

Now that the initial wave of everything happened and Harry can stand there for a few seconds to finally let his head clear out, he realizes he meant absolutely nothing that he said, and he regrets every word of it. In the heat of the moment, Harry lets his emotions cloud his judgement, and now that has fucked up his relationship with Louis. He was just embarrassed and overwhelmed, and his anxiety levels were rising rapidly, but in the end, Harry screwed shit up, and he's back to only having one solid friend now because of it. 

Great, just _fucking_ great. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another warning heading into the chapter. There's a razor involved, but nothing too inappropriate happens. There's some talk and mentions of it, but there is no actual action of anything.
> 
> **PS, YAY for a quick update. I'm going to try to upload these chapters hopefully daily so stay tuned.**

After a long day of school, Harry heads over to Stamford Bridge to meet up with Matt before the game begins. It's nearing the end of March, and Chelsea has a couple of premier league games left and then the Champion's League Quart Finals the next week. Harry knows going in to Matt's office that their talk is pertaining to the upcoming games so he anxiously knocks on Matt's door and weasels his way inside. 

"Hey, Harry," Matt welcomes with a smile. He's standing by his desk and walks around it to take a seat in his rolling chair. He motions for Harry to sit as well by pointing to the arm chair in front of his desk. "Come take a seat."

Harry nervously fidgets with his fingers and goes to take a seat. He relaxes a little when he sees a newly framed photo sitting atop of Matt's desk. It's a picture of Matt with his wife, both of them looking down at her growing baby bump and looking purely happy. It makes Harry smile.

"So my wife is now on bed rest, and she's days away from giving birth."

At the confession, Harry's eyes widen in surprise. 

"Wow," he breathes out, lips curving up even more. "Congrats, Matt. That's amazing."

Matt nods his head as he folds his hands together on top of the desk. "It's fantastic, but that means I might need a little bit more help from you if you are willing to do it."

"Of course, what is it?"

Matt turns towards his computer and types a couple words on the keyboard before he is turning the screen around for Harry to see. It's Chelsea's schedule. Harry frowns and looks at the calendar. 

"Chelsea has the quarter finals next week in Portugal against Benefica, and I won't be able to go. Actually, the rest of the away games for the next couple of months, I won't be able to go. We're having triplets, and it's just a bad time to leave my wife right now so I talked to the school about what this means moving forward with the internship, and they came up with a solution." Matt pauses with a smile, and he reaches for a desk drawer to pull a paper out of it. "They consider away games as school functioning trips for any participants for this internship so you'll be validated to travel with the team to take pictures. It'll be for the next few months, and then I'll be back, but what do you think?"

Harry's grinning like a fool by the time Matt is finished, and he's already agreeing by erratically nodding his head. "Of course I want this. This is amazing."

"Wonderful," Matt breathes out in relief. He hands the paper that he is holding over to Harry reclines back in his seat. "You'll be missing a few days of school, which is outlined in this form, but I'll need a parent to sign off on it, and you'll be good."

Harry deflates a little. "I mean, I'm already ahead in school, and since it's my last year, I have a bunch of free periods."

"You're still a minor, Harry," Matt reminds with a small laugh, turning the computer screen back to himself. "Just get this form signed, and you'll get the promotion."

Harry sighs and stares at the form Matt gave him and really contemplates how in the _hell_ he's going to get his mother to agree on this. She barely allowed Harry to do the internship in the first place, and she just bought Harry a new camera so the last thing Harry wants to do is push his luck by asking his mother to sign off on him missing a few days of school to take photos. He knows that conversation won't go well so he's already dreading the moment of having it. 

Matt leaves shortly after to tend to his wife, and Harry is left behind to take the pictures for today's game. He stuffs the form neatly into the side of his carrier bag and heads out the office to walk through the tunnels. The team is currently in the locker room getting ready so Harry has a couple minutes of peace before he has to worry about them. He ends up stepping on to the pitch and setting his stuff down to the side and grabbing out his camera to strap around his neck. The stadium is already halfway filled with fans, and Harry easily spots Niall running down one of the sections so he can meet Harry at the bottom railing. Harry smiles and walks over to him. 

"Matt asked me to take pictures for away games," Harry quickly informs, seeing Niall's lips stretch into the widest smile. 

"That's great, Haz - more experience, yeah?"

Harry furrows his eyebrows and deflates a little. "My mum has to sign off on it, though," he mutters, eyes glancing upwards and noticing Jake and another of Niall's friend is waiting at the top of the section. Harry quickly diverts his eyes back to Niall when he notices Jake continuous stares. 

"I'm sure she'll see how amazing of an opportunity this is for you," Niall eases, trying to keep his uplifting mood. "This is really great, Haz. I know you'll do amazing at it."

They're interrupted when the music starts playing to signify the teams are about to run out onto the pitch. Harry glances at the field for a brief second before he looks at Niall and waves him goodbye. Niall turns and rushes back up to his friends while Harry turns to get closer to the tunnels so he can get good shots of the players running out. Right when the smoke starts blowing, Harry begins pressing the buttons on his camera, getting each and every player dancing or running out on the field. Some of them are pumping the crowd up, others are waving, and a few are even jumping on one another - all of which are excellent shots for Harry's portfolio for the day. Harry continues to take pictures of the team even as they go to one side of the field to begin their warm up and agilities. There are a few that meet Coach to have one on one conversations, and this honestly has been the most pictures Harry has ever gotten before a game _._ It must be an important match or something. 

As Harry finishes up with his pre-game pictures, he lets the camera dangle freely around his neck. He walks off to the side so he doesn't get in the way of anybody and takes his time just enjoying Chelsea and the other team preparing for the game. In the midst of everything that's going on, Harry accidentally catches Louis' eye from across the field, and there's a brief second where the two of them are awkwardly staring at one another before they both turn away hastily. It feels like a punch in the gut for Harry at not being able to look at Louis without feeling completely embarrassed and ashamed. He knows he overreacted the day he got punched, and ever since then, the two of them have avoided each other like the plague. It's barely been a week, the bruise has hardly faded, and the weight of Louis' words are officially setting deep within Harry's heart when Harry realizes that Louis kept true to his word and is going to remain out of his shitty life. It sucks. 

After staring off to the side for a few seconds, Harry doesn't realize someone is running up to him until he turns his head and sees it's a player. He's not entirely sure who it is that is coming towards him, but he wears the jersey number twelve, and Harry's pretty sure he's seen this guy play goalie and hang around Louis before so he must be a friend or something. 

"Hey, Harry, right?" The player greets lightly, smiling when Harry hesitantly nods. "Awesome. I'm Liam Payne."

Harry loosens up when he finally gets the name to the face. "Oh, right. The goalie."

Liam nods his head. "Yeah, Yeah. I was just coming here to ask if Matt had told you anything?"

Harry frowns at the question and wonders why the hell Liam is asking him this question, but since he and Louis are not talking, maybe this is Louis' way of trying to find out without directly asking. Again, it sucks. 

"Yeah, he mentioned me traveling to take the pictures for away games, but I'm not sure if my mum will sign off on it. She's not the biggest fan of my photography."

Liam hums thoughtfully. "You know Robin Twist?" Harry nods his head. "Yeah, he's actually my Uncle. I didn't realize he was dating your mum until he came over to dinner the other week and said he's seeing the woman named Anne Styles, and I knew you were Harry Styles from Louis."

"Oh, wow. That's pretty cool," Harry gasps in mere shock. He had no idea Robin and Liam were related, and it's kind of a crazy thing to think about. "I guess I'll be seeing you around a lot more then, yeah?"

"I suppose so," Liam agrees with a smile. "But, yeah, I'll talk to my Uncle and see if he has some way of persuading your mum to sign off on this. I think it would be great."

Harry sighs in relief, feeling himself lighten up. "That would be great," he admits breathlessly, nibbling on his bottom lip when he feels a goofy smile coming out. He has to blink his eyes away just because his excitement about the potential of his mom being persuaded is a little overbearing, but his small mood instantly shifts downward when he sees that Louis is frustratedly trying to call all his teammates over to him, including Liam. With a sigh, Harry rolls his eyes back to Liam. "Better be off. Wouldn't want to upset _the captain_."

Liam frowns at the comment, and Harry knows Louis isn't actually the captain. 

"It's okay," Harry says before Liam can make a comment. Somehow, Harry has a feeling that Liam is somebody that Louis talks to so he wouldn't be surprised if Liam has an idea about the weird relationship he's having with Louis. "Go on and get ready for the game. I got pictures to take."

Liam is reluctant to go at first, but with Louis' persistent calling, he ends up jogging away with a loud huff. Harry smiles at his retreating figure and quickly turns his body around so he doesn't risk the chance of catching Louis' eye again. He manages to break free from it and focuses on taking pictures the whole game. He gets a bunch of action shots and one post goal celebration, but unfortunately as the clock ticks down to the final second, Chelsea ends up losing by one goal - a goal that Louis had made in the first half. Other than that, Chelsea plays subpar, and the stadium is left with a bunch of gloomy fans trudging their way out the exit. Harry, on the other hand, goes to his little corner where all his stuff is waiting for him and begins packing everything up. 

This is when Louis decides to finally to approach him. 

"Harry," Louis calls out, slowing his steps the closer he gets. 

Harry furrows his eyebrows at the sound of Louis' voice and doesn't bother turning around to face him. Instead, he focuses on carefully, and slowly, putting his camera back in his bag. He can still feel Louis' body heat, though. 

"What do you want, Louis?"

With a huff, Louis steps up next to Harry. "Can we talk now?"

Harry nibbles on his bottom lip, staring at the wall in front of him, and then finally stands up, shouldering his carrier and turning to face Louis with a frown. 

"I don't think there's much to talk about," he admits truthfully, putting his hands on his hips. "I think we got enough talking done last week, and quite frankly, you made it perfectly clear that you don't want to be a part of my shitty life. It's fine. You don't have to pretend anymore. My life was perfectly doable before you ever walked into it."

Harry doesn't bother waiting to hear what else Louis has to say because quite frankly, it is already hard enough for him to say anything at all so if he adds Louis' words to the mixture, then he knows he'll completely break down and cry. It's been a long week of Louis turning the other way anytime he and Harry make eye contact, and it's been a long week of Louis being the first one off the field any time practice finishes. His efforts had been amazing, and Harry's felt like a fool because it really seems like Louis was trying to prove his point that he can _in fact_ live perfectly fine without of Harry's life. So no, Harry doesn't have the energy inside of him to listen to what bullshit Louis has to say to him so he quickly rushes out the stadium and scurries his way home so he can put his energy to use and convince his mother to sign off on this form Matt gave him. 

When Harry eventually gets inside his house, he hears Robin and Anne in the kitchen, and when he walks over there to check on them, he sees the two of them sitting at the dining table. With a confident huff, Harry pulls his form out and places it in front of his mother, towering over her and trying to remain confident. 

"Matt gave me this form today, and for once, can you just consider how much I enjoy doing this and _please_ sign off on it?"

Robin is the first to make a move, smiling as he reaches for the paper. "What's this?" he questions, but even the smug look on his face shows that he already has an idea. "This is great, Harry. Congrats."

He hands it over to Anne when he's finished, and she begins reading it with a growing frown on her face. 

"Harry," she's already sighing, placing the paper down. "No."

"But mum -"

"Harry, I said no," she repeats more firmly. "I really need you to stop putting your focus into this hobby and put your focus into applying for Universities. We've already discussed this. You need to figure out what schools you want to apply for and what degrees you want to major in."

Robin furrows his eyebrows together and turns to Anne, reaching out to gently grab her arm. "Anne, come on."

"No, he's my son, and I said no," she snaps. 

"Just give him a chance. I'm sure he'll do great."

"Bloody hell, Robin," Anne nearly yells, eyes hardening while she scoots back in the dining chair to stand up. As she slams her hands on the table, she continues. "Look, I appreciate it Robin, but you also haven't been there for him for the past seventeen years when I raised him alone. He's my son. He lives under my roof. I pay for his bills, and I'll be the one paying for his school. So I'll be the one making the decisions."

With that, Anne storms out of the room, leaving an awkward, heavy silence lingering around. Harry's eyes dart down to his shoes and feels defeated where he stands. He can tell Robin keeps looking at him pitifully, and it just continues to further Harry's shitty mood. 

"I'll try to talk to her," Robin says after awhile, the sudden sound of his voice jolting Harry in his spot. 

Harry looks up and finally smiles weakly, giving Robin a nod before he's getting up and following after Anne. Once Harry's alone, he collapses in a dining chair and lets out a loud breath of air. It's such a big relief for Harry to hear that one person will be there for him, and not just anyone, but his mother's boyfriend. It reminds him that there are people out there who do believe in him, important people, and Harry can only hope at this point that Robin will be a big enough influence for Anne to let Harry pursue this dream. It's a long shot, but it's all Harry's got at this point. 

//

Harry's over at Niall's house one day after school, working on an English assignment they have due in a few days. 

"I can't focus on this poem right now. Honestly, all that's going on in my mind is just _blah, blah, blah_."

Niall snorts in response and tosses the said poem out of his way. "I'm sure the teacher would _love_ if you wrote that down as the meaning."

Harry just shrugs his shoulder in response, lips pulled down in a frown and eyes distractedly staring at the ground. Niall notices and tilts his head curiously, carefully watching Harry for a couple of seconds, trying to figure out how exactly he wants to approach this conversation. After a couple of minutes of staring, he sighs.

"Harry, can I ask you something?"

Harry raises his eyebrows and turns to look at Niall. "Yeah, sure."

"I just wanted to know - do you like Louis?" Niall questions in a softer tone, still watching Harry so carefully even as confusion flicks across his features. "I'm only asking because since the whole incident at the school last week, you've been so sad and gloomy. You don't really bring him up anymore, and I know you two aren't on speaking terms."

Harry deflates, eyes going back to the ground, fingers finding a stray string on the comforter of Niall's bed. "Does it even matter?" he laughs bitterly. 

"It always matters."

Niall attempts to comfort Harry by reaching over to press his hands on Harry's thigh, but as nice as the touch is there, it just aggravates Harry. All this time, Harry had been listening to Niall constantly nag Harry about how careful he needs to be when it comes to Louis and how Harry needs to not even think about Louis beyond anything of a friendship and now, Niall is going against everything. Now, he wants to talk about the two of them, and it actually really starts to bother Harry. 

"Niall, I thought you wanted me to stay away from him?" Harry asks with a sudden burst of anger. He fumbles off the bed and stands up on his feet, anxiously pacing at the foot of Niall's bed and staring back at the other boy like he's crazy. 

Niall just frowns. "I don't know. I mean, you seem so sad now that he's actually out of your life, and feelings can be a shitty thing to deal with."

"Okay?" Harry scoffs, pausing so he can full on look at Niall. "And your point?"

Harry doesn't want this fight. He doesn't want to be a dick. He doesn't want to be emotional. He doesn't want to over react, but with everything that's been happening, it's hard for him not to. Harry just needs to let go, and his built up frustration since the minute he got punched by Tanner is really starting to push him over the edge. 

"Haz, I don't want you to feel this way," Niall tries to ease, slowly edging off the bed. "I want you to be happy and quirky again."

"Okay, Niall. Whatever. Just drop it."

Fuck, Harry really doesn't want to have this conversation.

"Haz, why are you getting so defensive? I just want to make sure you're okay."

With a frown, Harry turns around and scowls, huffing in annoyance. "Niall, you're the one in the first place who didn't want me to be friends with Louis so I don't understand why all of a sudden you care about the two of us being together."

Harry knows he's working himself up just because this is a hard conversation for him to have. His feelings for Louis have been a pressing issue in the back of his head, and now that all this random shit had gone down between the both of them, it's hard for him to actually talk about anything. He knows Niall means well, but still, Harry has enough to worry about with his mother and his issues with Tanner, but adding his strange feelings about Louis into the mix just overwhelms him. He's already breathing heavily, and his hands are shaky when they come up to brush some wild curls off his face, and he can't stand still, continuously pacing around in Niall's room and anxiously looking everywhere but _at_ Niall. 

"Harry, calm down, but. Don't get too worked up over this," Niall tries to ease. He attempts to walk to Harry and place his hand on Harry's shoulder, but Harry deflects it and walks to the other side of the room. "I just want to know how you're feeling about him. I'm not trying to say anything or judge or whatever you think I'm trying to do. I just want to make sure you're fine."

Harry stops pacing for a second to look at Niall, a credulous look on his face. "But _you are_ judging me," he laughs bitterly. "I know you're judging me because the media says Louis is a shitty person, and I'm a dumb enough boy to think there's any ounce of goodness in him. So yeah, stupid, pathetic, Harry, huh?"

"Harry -" Niall sighs, pitifully, stepping closer to Harry, but Harry quickly shakes his head as tears fill his eyes. 

"Niall," he calls out weakly, sniffling as he tries to calm his breathing down. It doesn't work, only makes him erratically breathe. "It doesn't matter. Just, please, drop it," he then begs, shakily. 

Niall huffs in frustration. "Harry, just answer the question, _shit_. I already know how you feel about it, it's obvious, but why are you trying to push it aside? Just admit that you like him, and then go talk to him. It's that simple."

Harry stands there for a couple of seconds frozen in his place before the tears spill over, and he's breathing out a big puff of breath. 

"Fuck you," he mumbles. 

Harry looks away to where his bag is set off to the side, and he quickly scrambles to go grab it off the floor. He can still feel Niall's presence where he's standing at the foot of the bed dumbly staring at Harry's figure, speechless at the words that just left Harry's mouth. Harry's never spoke to him like that, never alone, even cusses like that. Even Harry feels a pang of guilt settle deep in his heart, and once he has his bag slung over his shoulder and he's standing up properly, he turns to look at Niall briefly to see the flash of hurt cross his features. More tears instantly fill Harry's eyes, and he has to turn away with a loud sob as he quickly flees Niall's room. He can't stand to be there anymore, and he doesn't want to see Niall's hurt look to make him feel any more shittier than he does so he rushes out Niall's house without another thought. Harry nearly runs back to his house to hopefully hide in his room for the rest of the day or to cry into his mother's arms. He isn't entirely sure what he needs right now, but he needs some sort of affection to help himself feel better, and although he and his mother have a strained relationship, he's really hoping that his mother can push all of that aside to make Harry feel better. He needs it. 

"Mum?" Harry calls out once he's inside his home, seeing his mother sitting down on the couch with a paper in her hand. When Harry steps closer, he sees that it's the form Matt gave him, and he feels a small ounce of hope rise inside of him as he watches his mother carefully read everything. "Have you decided?" he asks weakly, slowly walking closer until he's nearly standing in front of her. 

Anne scrunches her eyebrows together and looks up, her own eyes glassy with tears. "Yeah, I'm not signing it."

"But, mum -" Harry whines, already feeling another wave of tears. 

"Harry!" She nearly yells, a sharp bite to her tone that makes Harry step back nervously. "I'm not in the mood for this. Just listen to me," she responds quieter.

Harry furrows his eyebrows together when the harshness of Anne's words contrast to the sad look on her face. He can tell that something is wrong with his mother outside of the argument regarding Harry's photography dream, and somehow, he feels like his mother's dampen mood has something to do with him. 

"Has Robin -"

At the mention of his name, Anne's eyes harden at Harry, and she has a rush of tears running down her cheeks. "Harry, I am your mother," she declares, both angry and sad. "Robin has absolutely no say in how I raise my child or what I say to my child so _stop_ relying on him to do anything. Forget about it and move on."

Something tugs in Harry's heart at how upset his mother seems to be about Robin. He starts to wonder if the two of them broke up or if they had a huge argument pertaining to this stupid form that Harry needs signed off. Harry doesn't know whether to feel guilty or supported, but either way, he's feeling both. 

"Mum," Harry states slowly, wiping underneath his eyes. "Robin actually believes in me. He said he supports me and -"

Harry gets cut off when there's a sharp sting of a hand slapping across his cheek. 

_Now,_ it feels like the weight of the world is crashing down on Harry, and as a loud gasps presses past his lip and his hands come up to cover the burn of his mother's hands, he can't see anything but wetness. Harry's breath comes out in even more rapid breaths, and he feels like his lungs are closing in and there's no room for him to get air. The room seems to be getting smaller, and his mind starts to spin, and all Harry can think about is that his mother slapped him on the face. His own mother, the woman who gave him life to this world, actually laid a hand on her own flesh and blood, and Harry feels absolutely worthless. 

He can hear his mother apologizing and crying and talking to him, but his ears are so focused on the ringing inside of his head that he can't hear anything. Instead of standing there and feeling betrayed, he turns on his feet and sprints out of the house. He just runs and runs and runs, letting his legs take him as far away from his house as possible. After having his stupid argument with Niall and then going home to have his mother not support his dream and then slap him for it, absolutely kills Harry on the inside. He wants nothing more than to have his mother hug and kiss him, even wants Niall's comfort and advice to make him feel better, but it's like the two most important people in Harry's life are right now the last two people he wants to see. He wants to hide out at Hyde Park to let the scenery calm him down, but he knows both Niall and Anne would most likely find him there in a few hours, and that's the last thing he wants to happen. He doesn't want to see them, and he doesn't want to deal with them because it seems like his world is closing in on him. 

So, Harry runs to the one place he knows he can escape to. Louis' flat. 

Harry runs up to the front gate and anxiously presses the call button for Louis to let him in. He does it for about a minute straight and groans when nothing opens up. He steps back and looks around to see how else he can get inside the complex. He sees there's an office off to the side with a bunch of security guards so he quickly rushes over there and frantically tells them what his name is and who he's here for. For a second, Harry worries that they won't let him in since Louis is technically a celebrity, but when they look at the guest list Louis has created, the guards see his name and let him through. Harry thanks them, face splotchy red and eyes stained with tears, and rushes through the hallway to get in the elevator. He quickly taps the top floor and rapidly presses the close button until the elevator doors are finally shutting in front of him. For the brief second that Harry is alone, he lets out a big breath. He knows he looks ridiculous at this point so he tries his best to use the collar of his shirt to wipe away all the tears and pain shown on his face. 

Finally, when the elevator reaches the top floor, Harry runs to Louis' door and begins knocking. He knocks, and knocks, and knocks, and when he doesn't hear anyone coming, he tries for the doorknob. He gets lucky to know that it's open, but the second he rushes inside to see where the hell Louis is, he immediately stops in his spot when he sees Louis quickly scrambling off the couch, shirtless, with a girl. Harry's eyes widen, and he feels another punch of breath get caught in his throat. 

"Harry?" Louis questions confusedly, rushing around the couch to grab where his shirt is thrown on the ground. The girl who's on the couch angles her body up and turns to look at Harry, an equally confused expression on her face as she grabs the closest blanket to cover her naked chest. 

Harry startles, soon scrunching his face up in disgust and putting his hands in front of his eyes. "Oh, god," he complains, wincing. 

"What're you doing here?" Louis questions right away. He frantically looks between Harry and the girl, breathing heavily as he tries straightening himself up, arms securely wrapping around his stomach and stepping closer to Harry. Once he's within a few feet, he notices a sharp redness to the side of Harry's cheek, and he immediately softens up and rushes to get in Harry's space. "Harry, what happened to your cheek?" He questions as he reaches up to touch, but Harry quickly retracts his head and steps away. 

"Don't - don't touch me."

Harry swallows and insecurely caves in on himself. The girl Louis was previously with is still on the couch, and she has an annoyed furrow to her brow as she continues watching on. Harry looks over at her briefly before he's shaking his head and turning away, more tears springing to his eyes. 

"Harry," Louis tries again, stepping closer and placing a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder. "What are you doing here?" he repeats the question.

With a bitter, wet laugh, Harry shrugs Louis' hand off of him and turns to look at Louis, eyes hardening in anger, or sadness, or whatever the hell Harry's currently feeling. 

"I'm just - I'm not even surprised you're with a girl right now." Harry scoffs. "What, it's been a few days since your last hook up, right? I thought the Louis Tomlinson standing in front of me now wasn't the same as the Louis Tomlinson in the tabloids, but I guess this is another thing I'm stupid to believe in."

Gosh, this is another conversation Harry doesn't want to deal with, and he _knows_ he has no right to act this way towards Louis, but well, Harry's just on a roll today acting like a dick so what's one more person to add to the list? He's not even mad at Louis right now, but he wants to be. He wants to feel more like shit.

"Harry, this is my home," he reminds the boy, eyebrows pinch in confusion, completely ignoring the naked girl on his couch in favor of Harry. "You can't just come here to yell at me for what I do in my place. I know you're upset about something, but -"

"Yeah, stupid me, right?" Harry laughs bitterly again, hands going to his hips. "I t-thought I could come here to talk to you and maybe let you do what you always do to make me feel better, but don't let me bother you. You're clearly occupied, and I forgot that you want nothing to do with my shitty life anymore."

Harry starts to turn away and rush out the door again, but Louis is quickly jumping forward and pulling him back in. "Harry, no - that's not what - I didn't mean -" he pauses when he can't find his words, but at least Harry is looking at him again. "I'm just saying, you could've warned me or something. I don't like you barging in here to yell at me. I would've like - I don't know - prepared better."

Harry rolls his eyes, sobbing. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

Louis deflates and steps closer to Harry, already having a look of pity cross his features, and it just makes Harry feel even more shitty. He's so upset right now, so mad, so angry, so disappointed, so confused, and so overwhelmed. Harry just _feels_ way too much right now, and he doesn't even want to try to let Louis help at this point. He just wants to drown in his emotions. 

"Whatever, Louis," Harry slouches, rubbing his eyes and backing away. "Just go back to the girl and have sex. That seems to be what you're best at anyways."

Harry tries to turn away again, but Louis presses some more and drags him back around. "Why does it even bother you who I have sex with?" he questions, slowly gaining a bite to his tone that burns Harry's heart. Harry darts his eyes to the ground and refuses to look up. "You said we weren't boyfriends so I don't owe you any explanation."

Harry chokes on his spit and looks up, tears all over his face and a faint smile across his lips. "R-Right," he swallows, pulling his lips into his mouth and stepping back away. Fuck, he should've left awhile ago. "We're not boyfriends. We're not friends. We're not anything. It's perfectly clear."

With that, Harry _finally_ leaves. He rushes out the door and slams it behind his body. He's thankful that when he gets to the elevator that it's still on his floor so he quickly gets in and presses the bottom floor. Harry rushes once he makes it in the lobby and takes another run back to his house. He's hoping that his mother has left to go look for him, and all he wants to do right now is lock himself in the bathroom and forget that this day even happened. He has tears streaming down his face. His head is pounding in pain. His ears are ringing, and the world is spinning. Harry hopes that the run back to his house will be enough to clear his mind and calm his racing influx of emotions, but it doesn't. It doesn't help. It just makes him feel worse, and when Harry runs up to his home, seeing that his mother's car is gone from the driveway, he feels relief as he rushes up the stairs to make it to the bathroom. 

Harry fumbles around all his stuff that's on the counter and tries finding what he's looking for. He tosses nail polish around, pushes his tooth brush and toothpaste on the ground, and starts moving absolutely everything out of his way. He makes a loud commotion of ripping drawers out and pulling the medicine cabinet open. He's so lost in his own world that he doesn't hear the front door open and the rapid sound of feet running up the stairs, but when he finally finds a razor shoved in the back of all his bathroom supplies, he pulls it out about the same time the bathroom door is flying. 

Harry startles when he sees Louis in the reflection of the mirror, not even finding the right words to acknowledge him. 

"Harry!" Louis nearly cries when he sees what's in Harry's hand, rushing to his side and ripping it from him. He tosses it in the toilet and hurriedly grabs Harry's arms to check his skin for anything. "What are you doing? Are you okay? Gosh, I've been chasing you all over London."

Harry remains frozen in place and continues to stare at his reflection in the mirror. He can't even move or find ways to form words. Instead, he's stuck, even his eyes are refusing to release the tears that are building up. Louis notices and shakes his head, looking down at Harry's arms again to find nothing there. No blood. No marks. No nothing. Louis lets out a big breath, relieved, and drops Harry's arms from his hold. 

With a swallow, Harry mumbles, "I don't do that."

"Harry," Louis whispers, tilting his head to the side as he reaches up to cup the sides of Harry's cheek, trying to get him to focus. "Please, look at me."

The first tear finally falls down Harry's face, and it's like he's back to crying all over again. 

"I don't cut, Louis. I swear. I just - I just stare at it and think. It makes me feel so weak."

Louis scoffs. "Harry, listen to me. You. Are. Not. Weak. You're strong, so strong. One of the strongest people that I know. You don't realize how amazing you are and what great potential you have for a successful life. I can see it. I see it all the time. I just wish you can see it, too."

Harry begins shaking his head and steps out of Louis' hold, sobbing, shaking, breathing heavily. "Louis, you c-can't just say something like that," he mumbles out, wiping his eyes. "You don't have a clue about anything I go through or how I feel because you get to do what you want, freely, I might add. You're Louis Tomlinson, the star player for the Chelsea Football Team. You make millions every day, and you have people all around the world who love you. I can't even get my own mother to say she loves me, let alone support me." Harry pauses when an ugly sob ripples out of him, and he goes to cover his mouth with one hand while the other grips the cabinet underneath the sink. "Do you want to know what I am? I'm weak, Louis. I'm nothing. I have nothing."

Harry opens the cabinet door finally, and Louis gasps when he sees what's carved on the wood inside. There are words like _gay,_ and _fag_ , and _queer,_ and _fairy_ , and _homo_ , and _girly,_ and _ugly,_ and _stupid_ all messily written on the door, along with the carving of tally marks in the top left corner. Louis feels so much pain in his heart right now that he doesn't even know how he's supposed to react to this. He's never seen anything like this before. 

"This is what I go through. This is the pain that I feel." Harry turns his head to look at the door, fingers delicately tracing over the tallies. "This is for every insult I've been told. Any complaint about my appearance. Any time I've been purposely embarrassed. This is how I deal with it all. I can't handle it. I can't hurt myself because of it. I just - I carve everything into this door and momentarily feel a small ounce of relief when I do so. It's like when I paint my nails or when I take my morning showers. It just _helps_."

Louis lets out a slow, shaky breath. "Harry, I don't even know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Harry sniffs, closing the door and straightening up, rubbing his eyes again because those damn tears will not stop. "The tallies just remind me of everything everybody has done to me, and I'm just hoping that one day I won't feel the need to tally how shitty I sometimes have it."

"Harry -"

Harry shakes his head, stopping Louis from saying any more. "I can't do this anymore, Louis," he then sighs breathily. "I can't keep playing these mind games."

"Haz, I don't want to fight with you either. I hate how this past week has been between us. I thought we were getting to a good place."

"I just -" Harry pauses, licking his lips to shake his head, letting out an unsteady breath. "I don't think it's a good idea if we're friends right now. You just come with too much for me to handle."

"Harry, I -"

"Please," Harry begs weakly, "Please, just go."

"O-Okay."

//

Louis heads over to Liam's place and sees that he and Zayn are sitting on the couch with a couple of beers around. Louis walks in and immediately heads for the couch and plops in between them, grabbing a beer off the table and grumpily drinking it.

"I think Harry just broke up with me." He takes a long gulp.

"You guys were together?" Liam wonders stupidly

Zayn raises an eyebrow. "What happened?" He asks instead. 

"He told me he couldn't _this_ anymore. Whatever the hell _this_ meant, but he basically said he doesn't want to be friends right now." 

"Oh, wow," Zayn sighs, reclining against the cushion. "You two still haven't recovered from last week?"

Louis shakes his head, pouting. 

Liam, on the other hand, hums thoughtfully. "Lou, do you want to know why I was so hard on you about Harry?"

"Not really," Louis grumbles. 

Liam ignores it and continues. "I was hard on you because I know you like him, Louis - like genuinely like him, but I also know you're going through your own shit as well. You act on impulse, and you sometimes say and do things without thinking, and most of the time, you do this when you're confused. I know your feelings for Harry are confusing. I know you hold back from having a relationship because you're scared about your anger issues, but I also know you care about Harry, and he cares about you, but I just wanted you to be careful about everything so you didn't ruin it by not giving yourself a chance with him.”

"Yeah, mate," Zayn agrees. "It wasn't that we disapproved or anything, we just wanted to make sure that this boy -"

" _This boy_ has a name, and it's Harry," Louis corrects immediately, narrowing his eyes at Zayn. "He genuinely means a lot to me right now. I even punched a guy for him."

"Punching a guy doesn't mean anything. This isn't a pissing war to get his attention," Liam supplies with a weak smile. 

"I'm just saying. I had a purpose in punching Tanner, and it wasn't because I was in one of my spiels. I wasn't angry or blacked out. I just did it because he hurt Harry. He hurt Harry right in front of me, and I _had_ to do something. I couldn't just watch and let it happen."

There's a big smile breaking through on Zayn's lips, and he tries covering it up by taking a gulp of his beer, whispering around the rim "you're so in love with him" before he's taking a drink. 

Louis frowns. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Zayn shakes his head, smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear it gets less angsty from here on out! Something beautiful is about to happen (:


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, things start to lighten up now. Finally, I know right?
> 
> Also, there's a scene involving getting a driver's license, and I know it's not an ideal way to get it, but, this story is fiction soooooo I can write whatever (:

Harry lays in his bed, alone, hiding, for another consecutive week. Ever since the fall out with Louis, his mother slapping him, and even the argument with Niall has just kept Harry feeling so down. Harry hasn’t left his room other than to go to school or to eat food, but even then, he keeps his appearance anywhere near his mother to a minimum. He can’t deal with it. Anne knew how harsh Harry’s father was to him and the horrid words he used to say so the fact that she is now no better than he is hurts. It really hurts.

Of course, Harry loves his mother. It’s the reason why he wanted to live with her instead of Des so he wants to forgive her. Harry wants to believe that it was an accident and that Anne had some sort of reason for why she slapped Harry, but Anne hasn’t said anything. It’s almost like she’s trying to avoid Harry as well, and Harry isn’t entirely sure why. He figured his mother would talk to him as soon as she could about the whole situation, but despite her longing eyes and the slight tremble to her lips, she made no effort in addressing anything.  
  
It just sucks because Anne knew how much Des hurt Harry.  
  
Harry groans as he rolls over on his bed. His phone is resting face up on the nightstand and he can see the flash of an incoming message light up. He’s briefly able to see that it’s early afternoon so he’s slept in pretty long today, but the name of the message that’s underneath the time shown makes another groan ripple out of Harry, and he reaches over to grab it to see what this one has to say.  
  
 _Hey curly, are you okay?_  
  
It’s from Louis. Harry knew it was from Louis before reading anything because all Louis has been doing for the past weeks is send so many damn messages to Harry, and Harry never responds to any of them. Harry had hoped that his silence was enough for Louis to realize that Harry meant what he said about needing a break from him, but if anything, it just kept pushing Louis to remain in contact. It was difficult and easy when Harry had to take pictures for Chelsea. Harry got lucky with one week because Chelsea had an away game, and since his mother never signed off on the form, someone else took photos for him. Then the next home game, Harry was able to properly avoid Louis and rush out the stadium before Louis even had the chance to talk to him. It was relieving, but it also sucked. Everything just kind of sucks right now, but at least out of all the chaos that happened, he and Niall are back to normal so maybe that can be a start.  
  
Harry is interrupted from his thoughts when he hears a knock at his bedroom door. He sits up on his mattress and watches as his mother shyly wedges her way through the crack of the door, a nervous look on her face and a sad tilt to her lips.  
  
“Harry?” She whispers, walking further into the room. “Mind if I come in?”  
  
Harry nods, but his guards are up, and he insecurely pulls the covers up to his chest and holds it there by crossing his arms over it. Anne walks over to sit by his feet on the edge of the bed, swallowing.  
  
“I need to talk to you,” She admits with a small, self deprecating laugh. She stares at the floor for a few seconds to gather up her thoughts. Her fingers begin nervously twiddling with the bottom of her shirt, and when Harry sees just how troubled she looks, he loosens up, wiggling his toes against her thigh to make her feel somewhat welcomed. With a soft smile, Anne glances at Harry. “Look, nothing I can say will ever make what I did okay, but I’m so sorry that I hit you. I’m so ashamed and embarrassed, and I feel like I failed you as a mother. I just - I was so angry already when you came to me. I had a fight with Robin, a bad one, and I took all of that out on you. It’s a horrible thing to do, and I regret what I did so much. You’re my son, Harry, my baby, and I love you, but I will never, ever do something like that again. I know it’s taken me weeks to finally talk to you, but I was so ashamed of myself and I had no idea what to even say to you, but I’m sorry.  
  
Harry has tears building up in his eyes by the time his mother finishes, and he tries blinking them away so he can properly see her. He knows she’s crying, and he knows she feels like absolute shit right now. He can see it in the way her face is drained of color, like all she’s been doing is sleeping and crying - can see it in the way she’s poorly dressed, like she hasn’t put the time nor the energy to doll herself up. It’s saddening and heartbreaking, and Harry knows he can’t stay mad at her forever.  
  
With a sigh, Harry drops the covers off his body and scoots closer to his mother. “Mum,” he whispers, letting his tears now run freely down his cheeks as he cuddles in to her side, hugging her tightly to his own body.  
  


"Me and Robin actually got in a fight over you," Anne then admits, pulling her face away slightly so she can rub underneath her eyes. Harry cocks his head at the comment, surprised. "I know, it's not what me and him do. I'm just, I'm not used to having someone by my side trying to help me raise you. With your father, we were such polar opposites. He tried to control everything about you and turn you into something you weren't, and when Robin was here supporting you, I realized that I was now doing the same thing. I mean, I found a man who wants to be a part of your life and help me raise you, but I was too far gone in my head to actually let it happen. I got defensive."

"I just didn't know what to do when you did it. You've never -" Harry pauses mid sentence, shaking his head because he doesn't know how to finish. 

"I will never do it again. I don't want to do it again," Anne says when she finds her opening, bringing Harry back into her side. "I kept letting Des get inside my head, and I shouldn't have. He always thought you and Gemma coming to live with me wasn't what was best for you both. He didn't think you could be successful if you lived with me, and when you wanted to be photography over a lawyer, like what your father wanted you to be, I started to believe him."

"Mum, I love photography. I know it's not an ideal job, but there are many photographers out there who make a great career out of it. I can't explain why it's something I want to do, but it's my passion. I love it."

"I know, baby. I know," she sighs, petting at Harry's hair. "I know _now_. I just wish I knew sooner. If photography is something you want to do, and you love doing it, then you have my full support. You'll always have my support in whatever you do as long as it makes you happy. I know that would be what's best for you."

Harry's lips start curving up, feeling like a huge weight is being lifted off his shoulder. He didn't know how much he needed to hear his mother's words to make him feel _this_ powerful, but it feels great. Harry feels loved, and he feels like he finally has his mother back. Something as simple as having Anne's support for his photography dream is strong enough to make Harry feel like he's walking the right path in life for himself, and nothing makes him happier than this. 

"Thank you," he finally breathes out, wiping hastily at his eyes and laughing softly. 

Anne smiles and continues to hug Harry tighter to her body. They stay like this for a couple more minutes before Anne is finally pulling back from Harry. Once the two of them wipe away the tears, Anne angles her body a little bit more towards Harry so she can look directly at him. She gives Harry a brief smile before she's reaching out and placing a hand on his thigh. 

"So, now that's out of the way," Anne giggles, nibbling on her bottom lip when Harry raises an eyebrow. "I have to be a mother and ask you something."

Harry frowns. "Oh, no."

"So I saw an article posted on Facebook, and it had a giant picture of my son in Hyde park with some apparently famous footballer. So I must know, who's this Louis boy?"

Harry's cheek instantly heat up in a blush at the sudden mention of Louis, and he diverts his mother's inquiring look by ducking down to stare at his lap, coughing awkwardly. "Oh, it's nothing," he mumbles under his breath, brushing a stray piece of hair out of his face. "I promise, there's nothing to worry about," he then states much clearer, finally looking at his mother. 

Anne raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "He seems like a trouble make. At least from what I Google'd about him."

"I don't know, mum," Harry laughs, sighing, soon turning it into a groan as he falls back on the mattress, grabbing the nearest pillow to shove on top of his face. 

Anne starts laughing. "So there _is_ something," she teases, patting Harry's leg and shaking her head fondly when another groan belts out of Harry. "You seem conflicted. Do you like him?"

With a grumble, Harry flings the pillow off his face. "I do like him," Harry finally admits, mainly directing it to the sky. "But he's also really complicated, and I don't know if it's worth it."

"Love takes time, Harry," Anne whispers softly, soon falling back on the bed as well and looking up at the ceiling with Harry. "Love takes time," she repeats. 

**//**   
  


Louis' irritated after the team meeting, for no reason at all, and grumpily trudges his way out Stamford Bridge. He continues his sour mood all the way to his car, and he ends up sitting behind the wheel to calm himself down before actually driving anywhere, but he's just so annoyed right now that being alone like this still isn't enough. He can't tell if he's pissed because Coach had a long ass meeting about what plays they need to work on before their next game, or if it's because Stan likes to have a mouth that never shuts up, or if it's because he still hasn't been able to talk to Harry. It's probably the Harry option, considering Harry has been on his mind for the past couple of weeks and it's driving him right mad since he hasn't heard from the boy. He just wants to talk. A simple-fucking-conversation is all Louis wants, and he can't even get that. 

Fuck. 

Louis slams his hands against the steering wheel a couple of times before he finally pulls out the parking lot. He's the last one to leave so he's thankful no one is around to try to bother him. Louis' just not in the mood to be around anyone at the moment, expect maybe Harry, but that's a long fucking shot for him so he knows not to get his hopes up. Louis could just go home and be done with the day, sleep off this annoyance he feels growing inside of him, but he simply can't. He can't do that when he knows it's a school day, and Harry's most likely not going to go straight home since he doesn't need to go to Stanford Bridge for practice. It's longest shot ever, but Louis turns his car down a street and heads straight towards Hyde Park to see if he can catch Harry there. If he can't talk to Harry after practice or on the phone, then he plans on trapping Harry in to talking to him. 

He's lucky when he walks up and sees that Harry is sitting on the ground by the bridge, body resting up against the end post with his head tilted back and eyes looking up at the sky. Louis smiles and carefully walks up to him, slowly sliding down the wall of the post until he's sitting next to Harry, still watching him as if Harry is about to tilt his head down to look at him. He doesn't. Harry keeps looking up, not even reacting to Louis being there. 

"Hey," Louis begins, swallowing, keeping his stare until Harry finally blinks his eyes over in Louis' direction. 

"What're you doing here?"

Louis shrugs, tilting his own head back to look at the sky, taking the position that Harry was just in. "I've been trying to talk to you for the past few weeks."

"I've noticed," Harry replies sharply, pursing his lips to the side to look up at the sky again. "I just haven't felt like talking if I'm being honest."

Louis shrugs, eyes glancing back down to Harry. "Then can I talk and you listen? You don't even have to say anything."

Harry hums thoughtfully but doesn't say anything yet. 

"Will you come with me?" Louis then asks. Harry's eyebrows pinch together as he looks at Louis again, frowning. "I just - I want to talk to you so we can start our friendship over. Clean slate."

Harry starts smiling a little. "A clean slate?" he wonders, seeing Louis nod. "Okay, yeah. That should be fine."

Louis brightens up instantly and all but nearly drags Harry off the ground to get him to stand. Harry follows with a grunt, laughing a little as Louis keeps his hand firmly wrapped around Harry's wrist to continue dragging him across the park to get to where his car is placed next to the curb. Louis lets go once they make it, and he opens the passenger side door of the car for Harry before he jogs around to the drivers side and gets in himself. He drives the both of them back to his flat and makes it up to his place in a short amount of time. He leads the way inside and goes straight towards the couch, anxiously sitting on the edge with a bounce to his leg as he watches Harry come join him. 

When Harry finally sits, he smiles hesitantly at Louis. 

"I'm ready," he announces, trying not to giggle, but Louis' excitement for this conversation is very evident on his face. 

"Right," Louis sighs, relaxing just a little. He scoots back on the cushions of the couch and reaches out his hand. "Hello, I'm Louis William Tomlinson."

Harry grabs Louis' hand, shakes it, smiles, and then giggles. "Okay," he shakes his head. "I'm Harry Edward Styles," he greets in return, playing along to whatever game Louis is wanting to play.

"Nice to meet you."

"Why did we say our names?" Harry then questions, retracting his hand to place in his own lap. 

Louis shrugs in response, smiling. "I'm trying to re-do when we first met. It sucked then, and since we're starting over, that means you need to be introduced to the real Louis."

"The real Louis?"

"Yes," Louis sighs. "The person behind what's put on the tabloids."

Something about that makes Harry frown, and he stiffens in his spot. "Louis -" he begins, a big breath coming out. "You don't have to like - you don't have to tell me things you don't want. I know some things are sensitive, and I don't want you to feel like you have to tell me them if you think that's what I need to hear for us to be friends again. You really don't have to do that."

"I trust you, Harry," Louis replies on instinct. He scoots closer to Harry until their legs are nudging together, and the gentle touch of it is enough to relax Louis. "You're important to me, and there are just some things about me that I want you to know. I want you to be able to understand me better, and that starts with knowing my past."

"Louis -"

"I want to," Louis interrupts, giving Harry a reassuring nod. When Harry finally settles in his spot and relaxes, not looking like he's going to argue, Louis begins. "I guess I can start with my dad. I remember awhile ago you asked me about him, and I told you one day we could talk about it." Harry blinks, waiting, anticipating. "Mark isn't my biological dad. My mum had me when she was eighteen with some other bloke named Troy, but he ended up leaving her early in the pregnancy. Mark came along shortly after, and was just there for my mum. He was there for me when I was born, and when he and my mum got married, he wanted to adopt me. So he did."

"And with football?" Harry questions. "You said he was your biggest motivator for that."

Louis smiles. "He was. Mark loved football, and Chelsea was his favorite team. He always said it was his favorite since growing up so when I started to get older, I would watch the games with him. I started playing as young as I could, and I loved it. He coached me for the most of it. A lot of the stuff that got me to where I am today started because of him. He was my idol." Louis pauses to clear his throat. "Our lives revolved around football, even as my mum started having my sisters, we never stopped playing football. Mark always saw big for me. So when I turned twelve years old, I got my first offer to join the youth academy for Chelsea. It's a program that pretty much trains you through the years to eventually get put on the Premiere team whenever you're ready, but it also meant missing a lot of school. The offer was great. It was the dream, _our_ dream, but it wasn't the right time for it. Mark found out he had cancer."

Harry's eyes widen in shock, but he remains quiet, seeing the look on Louis' face like he might cry, but he's holding out in favor of continuing the conversation. Harry just scoots closer so their thighs are full on pressed against each other, and with a small surge of confidence, Harry reaches out for Louis' arm, holding on. 

"My mum also found out she was pregnant with the twins when all of this happened so it was a massive shit show. My dad was dying, I was being offered the deal of a life time, and my mum was pregnant. At twelve years old, I just - I didn't know what to do. My dad wanted me to take the offer, but my mum wanted me to stay with her and the girls. I thought about giving up football, but Mark didn't want that. He wanted me to continue with football, but my mum didn't want me to leave her. She wanted me to give up our dream to stay by her side."

"Is that why you don't mention your mum much?"

Louis shrugs. "Kind of," he frowns. "I was upset, and I didn't want to stay home and continue to be upset. I knew I would resent my mother if I stayed because of her. Mark wanted me to go so I went. I did the youth program, stayed at the academy, and never really talked to my mum since. I've been too scared to even face her. I get to see my sisters all the time, and they love me, but they want me to come visit home. I'm just terrified. My twelve year old, arrogant, selfish ass just left his pregnant mother alone to go play a sport that was always going to be there for him because he didn't want to handle the pain of losing his father. That's what I did."

"Louis, I'm so sorry."

"I mean," Louis laughs bitterly, shaking his head, lazily shrugging again. 

"What about your anger problems?" Harry questions. "Did football have anything to do with it?"

Louis shakes his head. "I kind of always had it. My mum figured out early that I had ADHD, but the anger really showed once I started school. Everyone knew that Mark wasn't my real dad so I got teased about that, and then I got teased about my mum having me so young. Then it continued because I was rather flamboyant, quirky, not how a typical boy should act, I suppose."

It comes to a surprise for Harry to know that Louis was once picked on as well. It's not ideal for Harry to feel slightly better since knowing this, but he does feel like he has a new connection with Louis that makes them feel closer. It gives Louis a new light in Harry's eyes, and it now makes a lot more sense why Louis reacts the way he does any time Harry tells him that Tanner was picking on him. 

"I punched someone for the first time when I was ten," Louis admits after a long breath, glancing at Harry carefully. "-And he wasn't even properly picking on me. He was just teasing and playing around, but the anger wouldn't stop. So shortly after I punched the dude, my parents took me to a specialist, and they realized I had anger issues that needed to be controlled."

"The medicine helped you control it?"

Louis grunts. "They do help, of course they do, but my dad was also a big help. The pills are meant to mediate everything so I'm not easily tempered, but it doesn't mean that I can't be triggered into an outburst so when the pills weren't enough to help, Mark was there. He was there to calm me down. He was there to help me find a way to channel my anger into something -"

"Football."

"Yeah, football became my outlet, and the medicine helped so when Mark died, I didn't know what to do." Louis deflates again, clearing his throat and looking down at his lap, feeling Harry tighten his fingers around his arm. "Someone who I could go and talk to into calming me down was gone, and I kind of lost myself from it. I still had football, but I didn't have a person." Louis blinks and then looks at Harry, softly. "Well, I didn't until I met you."

Harry lets out a shaky breath and has to glance away, feeling every ounce of _something_ flow to his heart. He doesn't have words to explain what he feels, but it's enough to make him feel whole and alive, like he's important and wanted, and it's kind of the best feeling ever. 

"You know, ever since Mark passed away, I just never had someone to help physically calm me down from the anger, but when I met you, you became this person that could easily do it. All I hear is your voice or feel your touch, and I feel every ounce of anger drain from my body, and I'm not entirely sure what that means or why it happens, but I like that you have the affect on me."

The fluttering in Harry's stomach continues, but before he can let himself swoon over everything, he still needs answers. Harry can listen to all the sweetest things coming from Louis if he wants, but if he doesn't address the confusion that comes with it, then he'll never feel better about anything. Louis still messes with his feelings, and there's still a part of Louis' life that Harry isn't too sure on. He never knows what to believe and what not to believe, and the only way he can ever get the truth is if he _just_ asks. 

"So _uh_ \- all the stuff online and magazines?"

"A lot of it is twisted in a way to make me look bad, and a lot of it isn't even the truth."

"Louis, there are so many stories about you hooking up with different people."

"Yeah, and the majority of them are full of shit," Louis quickly corrects, scoffing. "I have friends, who happen to be girls, and every thinks I'm sleeping with them. I look out for them, yeah, but I don't just hook up with people every time I go out. If anything, I can count the number of people I slept with on one hand." 

Harry raises his eyebrow, releasing his hold on Louis. "Wow."

"I'm not bragging or trying to make that any better," Louis tries amend, laughing awkwardly. "I'm just saying, it's not as many people as it seems. There was this time when my best friend had just gotten cheated on so I took her on like a week long club crawl, and the media had a field day thinking we were banging each other, but we weren't."

"I know I don't have a right to like ask about that stuff -"

"I don't care, just ask."

"The girl I walked in on? What about her?"

Louis blows a raspberry past his lips. "She's not some random girl I just picked up on the streets. I'm not sure if that makes it any better or not, but I know her."

"It's okay, Louis, really," Harry tries to reassure, reaching to grab Louis' arm to prove that he is fine. Louis sighs, and Harry smiles. "This talk helped, and I'm really happy that you finally got me to listen."

"Yeah, me too," Louis agrees. 

**//**

At the end of practice, Louis quickly takes his shower, packs his bag, and attempts to rush out the stadium.

"Hey, mate," Ronni calls out before Louis can leave. Louis groans and turns around, hands on the handle and turning back to see Ronnie pulling a shirt over his head. "Where are you going? I thought we were going out for drinks?"

Louis shoulders his bag tighter. "I'm going to pick Harry up from his school."

Just as he's about to turn to leave again, Stan's loud laugh pulls him back in. Louis groans and turns back around, raising an eyebrow in a questioning way in Stan's direction, waiting for some sort of explanation for the random outburst, but Stan has already turned around to get himself dressed. Louis rolls his eyes at Stan's back while Ronni starts smiling like a fool, nodding his head like he approves Louis' decision. It really doesn't make any sense to Louis, but, oh well. 

"So does that mean lover boy is finally your boyfriend?" Leevi is then calling out, stepping out from the shower area with a towel wrapped around his waist. He walks over to his locker and leans against it, crossing his arms over his chest as Ronni now looks equally as interested at him. 

"No," Louis answers with a pout.

"Not yet -" Leevi corrects with a wink. 

"Yeah, just don't fuck it up, mate, and you'll be bueno," Ronni adds in, smiling even more. 

"I'll try not to." 

Louis is finally able to leave the locker room without having any of the other teammates bother him into staying. He rushes out the tunnel and jogs across the car park to get to his Porsche as quickly as possible. Once he gets seated and the car started, he pulls out of the lot and starts heading towards Collingham. He knows Harry doesn't get out for another half hour so he wants to get there in enough time so he can find somewhere to park and be noticeable enough for Harry to see him. He's lucky when there's a free spot by the front entrance of the school, and he goes to park over there and waits for a few minutes before the first wave of students start to exit the school doors. Louis turns his car off and gets out so he can lean against the door, wanting Harry to be able to see him first before trying to recognize the car. It takes a little bit before Harry is finally walking out the school doors. He has Niall by his side, and the two of them are walking down the stairs not even noticing Louis' presence until they start walking towards him, and Niall ends up being the first one to see him. 

With a nudge to Harry's arm, Niall tilts his head in Louis' direction and changes their walk towards him. Immediately, Harry brightens up.   
  
"Louis-fucking-Tomlison," Niall greets right away, reaching out to give Louis' hand a shake. "What are ya doing here?"

Louis shrugs his shoulders as his eyes trail over to Harry. He instantly smiles when he realizes Harry is already looking at him, and when they make eye contact, the both of them mouth a soft _hi_ to one another. Harry bites his lip and looks away, but Louis keeps his eyes on Harry and ends up trailing them up and down his body to just soak in the outfit the boy is wearing. It's cute and simple - very _Harry_ , and the aztec scarf wrapped in his curls is a nice touch to the loose, black shirt and blue jean shorts. It's one of the first times Harry's leg have ever really been on display, and it takes every ounce of Louis to not stare at how beautifully long they are. 

He quickly clears his throat and looks back at Niall, flushing when he realizes he's been caught blatantly staring. 

"Do you mind if I steal curly from you? I have a surprise for him."

Harry's eyes widen in shock, and Niall shrugs. "Sure, go ahead," he agrees with a smile, hand sneaking to Harry's back to give him a few pat before he's walking past the two of them and leaving them alone. 

Once Niall's gone, Harry smiles and turns to Louis. "What's the surprise?" he questions right away, biting his bottom lip when Louis opens the car door for him. 

"That's the point of the surprise, Haz. It's a secret."

Harry grumbles playfully, but he gets inside the car and lets Louis close the door for him. Louis smirks as he rounds the hood of the car to get in the driver's side, and once he's settled, he turns the car back on and turns to look at Harry, wiggling his eyebrows before he's taking off. 

//

Harry exits out the door with a pep to his step, and he laughs on his way back to Louis' car. "I _cannot_ believe you just did that for me."

With a smirk, Louis tosses the keys to his Porsche over at Harry, rolling his eyes. "Just drive, Haz."

"How did you even know I've been trying to get my licenses?"

Louis shrugs his shoulders and gets in the passenger side of the car. He smiles as he buckles up. "Niall apparently told Zayn when they went on their date, and then Zayn told me. He said you've been doing online classes so I thought I would shoot my shot and take you."

Harry laughs, breathlessly, and puts the key into the ignition. "I can't believe I even passed."

"Well, you're seventeen and about to graduate College. It's time you have a license."

Harry starts giggling uncontrollably and begins to back out of the car park, slowly, carefully, until he's ready to drive forward. "This is so nice of you. My mum wouldn't have been able to take me until Summer."

Louis just sighs and reaches for the brand new ID in the cup holder. He grabs it and brings it up to his face, smiling like a fool at Harry's picture on the front, feeling a huge rush of affection flow to his heart, and without thinking much, he blurts, "cute."

Harry flushes. "Not it's not," he complains. He has both hands perfectly placed on the wheel, and he's sitting on the edge of the seat like he's scared to relax. It's quite endearing for Louis to watch, and he starts smiling even more when Harry tilts his chin a little higher so he can see better. "I look like shit. I just came from school."

"I don't think it's possible for you to ever look like shit."

Harry flushes again, but he rolls his lips inside his mouth to keep quiet and continues to drive. He remains focused on the road at all times, sometimes gasping under his breath when a car gets too close to him or when a car cuts him off, but overall, he manages to get them both back to his house in one piece. Harry pulls up the driveway to his home in a quick amount of time, and once they're parked, he gives Louis a smile and gets out the car. He meets Louis at the hood of the car, but he notices that the car is no longer running, and Louis is continuing to walk past him until he's standing at the front door. Harry raises his eyebrows and turns to look at Louis expectedly. 

"What's going on?" Harry questions with a growing smile, slowly following Louis up the porch to his house and meeting him at the front door. 

Louis falters for a second. " _Um_ I want my hoodie back?" he tries, shrugging lamely. 

"The one I borrowed forever ago?" Harry questions with a laugh. He reaches for the doorknob and pushes it open, tilting his head inside to motion Louis to follow him in. 

Louis gleefully smiles and follows, surveying the brief foyer before they're stepping foot in the living room. Anne is sitting on the couch with the television running a show, and at their approach, Anne looks up at the two of them. She grabs the remote and puts the show on mute, welcoming the both of them, mainly Louis, with a warm smile. Louis walks up to greet himself, carefully shaking her hand whenever she offers it. 

"Hello, I'm Louis Tomlinson."

Anne shakes Louis' hand, but she's looking at Harry with a knowing smile. Harry rolls his eyes. 

"Nice to meet you Louis. I'm Anne," she greets in return. 

"I'll be right back," Harry calls out as he turns on his heel to jog up the chairs. 

Louis turns to look at him before he's sitting on the couch with Anne. "So Ms. Anne, the summer is coming up. I was wondering if you have any fun trips planned with Harry for his graduation."

Anne hums thoughtfully. "I think Gemma wanted to go down to the lake for a long weekend, of course without me, but I was thinking of taking him somewhere he fancies for a family trip. Not entirely sure. What about you? Where's football taking you?"

"I'm playing in the Euro Cup with the England National Team. I'm kinda excited for it."

Anne claps, smiling wide. "Wow, that's amazing. Do you know where you're going to play?"

"Honestly, no," Louis laughs. "I just know we'll get to travel around, and it'll be quite the experience."

"Does your family get to go?"

"They could if they wanted to, but normally, no. Not when I travel like this."

"So how is your family? Do you have any siblings?"

"I have a lot of siblings actually. I have four sisters. The two youngest are twins so my mum has a handful."

"And your dad?" Anne questions, slightly hesitant, and Louis tries to ease her with a soft, warm smile. 

"He actually passed away years ago, but he was a good man. He got me into football."

The conversation is interrupted when Harry is skipping down the steps with the Chelsea hoodie thrown over his shoulder. He walks into the room and sees that Louis and his mother are now both sitting on the couch, kind of close, and kind of looking like they've been talking to one another. Harry furrows his eyebrows together and walks up to the couch, hesitantly looking between the two of them like they were talking about his deepest, darkest secrets. 

"What's going on in here?" he wonders, lazily tossing the hoodie on Louis' lap. 

"I was just about to invite Louis to dinner," Anne admits with a smile, a subtle nod that Harry thinks he catches on to. She then looks at Louis and gives him a wink. 

"Yeah, where would you like to go?" Louis asks Harry, turning his head slightly so he can look at him. 

Harry finally cracks a smile as he looks at Louis, then his mother, and then Louis again. "I'm kinda wanting Italian."

"Pasta it is then," Louis cheers. 

Louis and Anne stand up from the couch, and while Anne reaches to grab her purse from the coffee table, Louis joins Harry where he's standing. They share a look with one another and begin walking towards the front door. Anne quickly follows behind, and as she's stepping out the door and locking it behind her, Harry abruptly turns around with a giant smile. 

"Guess what, mum?" He questions, biting his lip. Anne urges Harry to continue with a nod. "Louis took me to take my drivers test today, and I passed."

Anne widens her eyes, surprised, and leans a little to the side to catch Louis' eyes. "Wow, that's amazing," she says nonchalantly, waiting until Harry is skipping down the porch happily before Louis steps closer to her. 

"I know it's out of my place -"

"No, you're okay. That's sweet of you," Anne reassures, warmly. 

Louis shrugs, like it's no big deal. "Well, I figured he could take my old truck that I don't use anymore. At least for the time being, if you don't mind that?"

"No, that's - that's _great._ " Anne feels speechless as she looks at Louis, completely blown away that Louis would do something as sweet as getting her son a license and a truck in the same day. It's crazy, and she never expected Louis to be like this, especially after reading everything about him online. The man that is standing right there in front of her is definitely not the one in the tabloids and the press. No, _this_ Louis Tomlinson is wonderful. 

"Are you guys ready?" Harry eventually calls out once he's out further in the driveway, anxiously waiting by his mother's car. 

Before Anne and Louis walk over to join him, Louis quickly pulls Anne back to him, gently. "I actually had a question. There's a reason I asked about the summer." 

"What is it, dear?"

"If it's okay with Harry, and you, I was wondering if he could tag along with me for the Euro Cup. We play lots of games in various countries, but we also have a lot of free time, and it'll be perfect for his photography. Plus, my personal assistant is coming, and Harry's friends with him, and the goalie for Chelsea is playing as well - Liam Payne - he's Robin's nephew. I just - I thought it would be fun for him to do if he has nothing planned."

Anne widens her eyes again, surprised for like the hundredth time that night. "Wow, again," she breathes out, laughing a little. "I'll talk to him about it and see how he feels. I think it would be fun, honestly."

Louis smiles brightly, and the two of them finally walk over to Anne's car. As Louis hops into the back seat, Anne grabs Harry's bicep and pulls him in privately. 

"Keep him," she whispers to Harry, smiling before she's getting in the driver's seat of the car to drive them to dinner. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally ...... am i rite?

Harry stands in front of the bathroom sink to stare at his reflection, adjusting the tassel dangling from his cap and straightening up the stole around his neck. He takes a big breath to help calm his racing heart, but it's beating so rapidly right now that he's scared it's about to beat right out of his chest. He has t-minus a few minutes before he has to walk out on the stage and give his speech - his valedictorian speech that he has been preparing weeks for. It's terrifying, and he's going to be the center of attention for a few minutes, and everyone out in the audience will be so focused on what he has to say so he _has_ to make sure that he aces this speech. He just can't mess up. He can't. 

It's graduation day. 

Harry's soon interrupted when he sees a blonde head coming in to view of the mirror, and he finally eases up when it's Niall getting closer. 

"You ready?" Niall wonders, hands coming up to Harry's shoulder to massage them. 

Harry feels about ready to throw up any minute now, but he's nodding his head and turning around, plastering a fake smile on his face. "As ready as I can be."

The room only spins a little, but Harry's able to take a few steps without falling over. 

"You'll do great, Haz. You're born to do this." Niall wraps an arm around Harry's neck and begins guiding him out the bathroom. "It's okay to be nervous though, but I just want you to know that you're the best person to be up there."

Harry's able to breathe a little better, but there are still so many doubts running through his head that he has to stop walking so he can say every single one of them to Niall. 

"What if I fall?" Harry questions frantically, standing in the middle of the hallway and ignoring the other future graduates who are walking into the cafeteria to get settled in their seats. Harry briefly glances at them and huffs, annoyed, especially when Niall starts laughing at him. "I'm serious," Harry whines, nudging Niall a little. "What if I mess up my speech. Or worse, what if I -"

"Harry, I mean this kindly," Niall quickly interrupts. He reaches up to grab on to Harry's face, squishing his cheeks together just so his lips are too puckered for him to properly speak. "Shut the hell up. You can do this. Believe you can do it."

Harry nods his heads, eyes widen, and waits for Niall to release his face. Once he's free, Harry lets out a big breath, one that's making him feel slightly better, at least enough so his heart isn't beating rapidly. "Okay, I can do it," Harry states confidently, nodding his head. "Let's go to our seats and get ready."

Harry and Niall finally join the other future graduates and begin taking their places in their designated seats. The head master of the school is at the front of the cafeteria giving directions of where everyone is supposed to go. All the graduates will get settled into their spots in the cafeteria, in alphabetical order, and then they're going to walk to the auditorium in the same order to prepare for the commencement. The ceremony is going to take place on the theatre stage, and the graduates will be sat in the chairs directly in front of the stage, and they'll be able to enter and exit the stage from the side ramps. The whole show will begin with an opening statement from the head master, and then a couple words from other staff members on the board. Harry will give his valedictorian speech lastly, and then all the graduates will be announced to walk across the stage. 

Niall goes to find his seat amongst the other students who have a last name starting with an 'H' while Harry walks towards the front. Since he's the valedictorian, he has to remain towards the front of the line because he'll be giving a speech first so he's going to be on the stage pretty much the whole time until he's being called to walk across for his diploma. When Harry makes it to his assigned seat, he takes a minute to survey the cafeteria, just wanting to take in the last few moments of being a Collingham student. He can see Niall surrounded by a couple of people Harry recognizes from his classes, can even see Jake a few rows behind trying to get Niall's attention. Harry also sees Tanner not too far away, and the second he sees that brute of a man, he immediately turns around and takes his seat. 

After the commotion of everyone taking their seats, the headmaster finally quiets everyone down. He begins the walk out of the cafeteria by leading the first row of students out the cafeteria. They walk down the long hallway of the school until they are standing right at the auditorium doors. All the rows begin following the first, and when Harry stands right at the door that separates him from the audience, he takes the second to breathe. He can faintly hear the announcer on the other side of the door speaking into the microphone about the incoming graduates, and once the graduation anthem starts playing, Harry knows they're about to walk in. 

With a deep breath, the double doors to the auditorium opens, and Harry follows the few staff members in front of him inside the room. 

Well, this is it.

The audience stands at the approach of the graduates, and everyone begins clapping over the sound of the music. Harry's smiling as he walks down the row and follows the path to where he's supposed to go up on stage. He can see the other students remaining on the ground level and taking their seats in the chairs directly in front of the stage, and for a brief second of where Harry is standing up on that stage, he surveys the entire crowd to see just how many people are there. It's a lot, but Harry knows he can do it, and when the faculty members before him finally finish their speeches, he knows it's his turn to go. 

Harry takes one final breath and stands up. He walks up to the podium right at the center of the stage and smiles at the audience, placing his note cards in front of him and clearing his throat. 

"Welcome friends, family. I would like to take a moment to celebrate the graduating class of 2012."

**//**

After a long hour of students walking across the stage, the graduation ceremony finishes. 

Harry walks out the front entrance of the school and begins surveying the big crowd of people in hopes of finding his family somewhere. It takes a minute of him walking around through the other students with their families before he finally spots his mother off to the side. He can see other people he knows by her, but the second she spots Harry walking his way towards her, she begins jogging towards him. 

"Oh, my baby, I'm so proud of you," is her greeting, lips immediately going to Harry's forehead and arms snaking around his waist. 

Harry giggles as he smiles against her body, glancing up brightly when he sees Robin standing right there by her side, a proud look on his own face. Harry sighs happily. 

"Your speech was beautiful," Anne admits when she pulls back from the hug, laughing wetly when tears freely roll down her cheek. 

"Thank you, mum." Harry steps away from Anne and then gives Robin a hug as well, but then he sees a small, frail girl bouncing her way towards him, and he instantly brightens up when his cousin comes in to view. 

"Hazmasta," Claire nearly shrieks. 

Harry steps away from Robin now and opens his arms up so Claire can happily skip right into them. Once Harry has her in his hold, he hugs her tightly to his body and lifts her up. "Oh, Claire, I'm so happy you're here," he sighs, heart so happy and full. He sets Claire back down after a second, and he sees his Uncle and Aunt walking up to give him a hug now that Claire has stepped back a little. 

"You did amazing," his Aunt Jenna praises. 

"Of course he did," Claire agrees with a chirp, getting back to Harry's side and looping both of her arms around one of Harry's. "It was so cool to see you up there speaking. It was kind of like you were the star of the show."

Harry giggles and looks down at her, playfully ruffling her hair. "Thank you, Claire Bear. I think I knew that my favorite cousin was out there in the audience so I had to make sure I put on my best performance."

"You succeeded," she smiles widely, her dimples cratering her cheeks. "I could never miss my favorite cousin's graduation. What kind of person would I be?"

Harry smiles some more and bends down to give her another hug. He just - he misses her so much, and he's so happy that she is able to come visit him. It's been a long time coming, and Claire really is his favorite person ever so the fact that she's standing there in front of him just makes Harry's heart feel so full of love. He wants to start crying, but he holds it back by blinking rapidly. 

Soon, his Aunt Jenna and Uncle David are walking up to Claire to break her free from Harry. Since she is still having problems with her thyroid, she has strict guidelines to follow. One of them is taking medicine at certain hours of the day and making sure she gets enough rest and water. So reluctantly, Aunt Jenna has to take Claire back to the hotel they're staying in so she can recover for a few hours before going back to Harry's home to celebrate his graduation. Harry's sad to see her go so soon, but with the promise of seeing her later looking healthier and refreshed, he knows this small time apart will be worth it. He did notice she looked slightly exhausted and pale after bouncing around too much so hopefully these next few hours will do her well. 

Once it's just Anne and Harry, Harry briefly looks around to find more family members, but when he doesn't notice anyone else, he frowns. "Where's Gemma?" he questions his mother, turning back around to look at her. 

"She's with a friend," is all Anne says, a sly smirk to her face that Harry raises his eyebrow to. 

Harry doesn't bother asking any question about the unusual comment from his mother. He supposes that the friend Gemma is bringing is the boyfriend Harry has yet to meet, but when Harry turns around to start looking for her again, he freezes in his spot when he sees exactly who Gemma had brought. Harry's breath leaves his throat when he sees a certain blue eyed boy walking alongside his sister, dressed up in nice clothes and soft hair pulled back in a quiff. Harry can't even form words as the two of them get closer and closer, but once there within breathing distance of each other, Harry starts walking straight towards Louis, mouth parted in shock and eyes widen in surprise. 

"Louis?" Harry breathes out, sill so out of it. He touches Louis' shoulder just to make sure he really is standing in front of him, and when he hears a beautiful laugh belt out of the boy, Harry finally smiles. Without a thought, Harry wraps his arms around Louis' neck and jumps in his arms, laughing against his ear and letting his legs bend up so Louis can sway them in his hold. 

"What are you doing here?" Harry questions once he's back on his feet. He looks down at Louis' collared shirt and realizes he ruffled it up so he begins patting it down to smooth it out. Louis smiles at it. 

"Your mum invited me," Louis admits, biting his lip when Harry quickly glares at his mother playfully. "I've also never been to a proper graduation so I thought it'd be a perfect time to go to one to see _my graduate_ get his diploma."

Harry's stomach flutters instantly. "Yours?" he questions shyly, heart beating loudly, smile growing wider, cheeks heating up. 

Louis' eyes widen at the slip up, and he coughs awkwardly when he's not entirely sure how to come back from that one. He scratches at the back of his neck and laughs a little, looking around to find something else to divert Harry's attention to, but luckily, Gemma is stepping up next to him and wrapping an arm around his shoulder, saving him from his own struggles. 

"Louis is amazing," Gemma cheers, patting Louis' shoulder. "I thought he was going to be a dick when I first saw him, but he surprised me."

"Gee, thanks," Louis mutters, rolling his eyes. 

Gemma just laughs and playfully punches him. "Yeah, and when people tried bugging him about autographs, he turned them down and said he's just here to watch you graduate. Super sweet, yeah?" Gemma looks at Harry and winks. 

Harry tries to ignore the effort his sister is trying to put forth into whatever she thinks she's doing, but he doesn't have to worry too much because he sees his mother grabbing at Gemma's arm to drag her away from the both of them. He starts giggling when Anne leans in close to whisper something to Gemma before she's walking the two of them towards the car park. Harry rolls his eyes at their fleeting figure and is then walking up to Louis so they can now be face to face. Louis is already staring at him when Harry looks up, and he feels his lips stretching into a wider smile when he realizes that Louis actually came to watch him graduate. He actually dressed up and arrived with his family. It is such a boyfriend thing to do, and the thought makes Harry's inside feel all warm and jittery. 

"So, you saw my speech, huh?" Harry wonders shyly, sucking in his bottom lip nervously.

"Of course, I did. You did amazing." Louis wraps an arm around Harry's middle and begins walking in the direction Gemma and Anne had already left in. Harry blushes at the touch. "I tried cheering the loudest so you can hear me, but I don't think it worked very well. You had a lot of cheers."

"He was yelling loudly," Gemma calls over her shoulder, like she was purposely listening in on them. She turns around in her mother's hold and winks again. "People even turned around to see who was making all that noise."

Anne smacks her lips together and slaps at Gemma's arm, turning her around again and trying to walk them quicker so she can let Harry and Louis have their moment together. Harry giggles again and slows their steps just a little, not wanting his annoying big sister to meddle in his conversation with Louis. She's already done enough today. 

"Thank you for coming today," Harry says once he's sure Gemma is out of ear shot. He stops walking when they get close to another curb, and he turns out of Louis' arm so he can properly look at Louis, hoping the expression on his face is enough to show Louis just how much him being there means to Harry. 

"Of course, I really wanted to come anyways."

Harry sighs dreamily at the comment, knowing very well that this moment between him and Louis has to be a game changer. Louis wouldn't just show up to his graduation dressed the way that he was if he didn't feel _something_ for Harry. And as insecure and doubtful as Harry is, he's starting to really believe that Louis truly does like him - like, _boyfriend_ like him. It's a huge possibility, especially after their conversation not too long ago. Louis admitted that Harry is someone who has a powerful effect on him in calming down, and no one can just have that kind of impact on someone's life without feelings being involved. Harry knows he likes Louis. It's why his heart is beating so fast with Louis here right now in front of him. Harry is practically swooning with the way Louis' bright blue eyes are looking at him. It's kind of how Harry always pictured someone to look at him, and here Louis is doing exactly that. Louis has to like Harry, he just _has_ to, and Harry hopes by the end of the night that maybe, just maybe, they can have a conversation about the status of their relationship. He's really hoping that the feelings mutual. 

"Are you going to stay for our grill out?" Harry asks after he realizes he's just been staring. He clears his throat and continues to walk towards his mother's car, glancing ahead and seeing Gemma and his mother are already seated in the front waiting. 

"I can't think of anything else I want to do."

Their arms swing by their sides, and there's a brief moment when Harry feels his fingers hit up against Louis', and he wants to so badly reach out and hold on to his hand. That's one thing they really haven't done. Harry wants to know what Louis' hand feels like in his own. He wants to know how their fingers tangle together and if Louis' hands get clammy like his own. There's so many things that Harry wants to know about Louis, but with how nervous he feels, he ends up pulling his arms to his chest and crossing them over one another. 

They both get in the back seat of Anne's vehicle when they finally walk up to the car and enjoy the short ride to the house. They had a couple of hours before some family members show up to celebrate. Robin had already began getting the food set up. He planned on grilling chicken and ribs so after he congratulated Harry, he went back to the house and started to prepare the meats. Louis and Harry set up the balloons around the house, and even a couple of banners that Anne had gotten. There's not a lot of decorations to put up, but there's enough to make it seem like the party is for a graduation. Gemma leaves to go pick up a cake, and by the time she's pulling in the driveway, Harry's Aunt and Uncle are walking into the house with Claire by their sides. Then their Grandma and Grandpa show up, a couple of neighbors, and soon enough, there's people filling up the house. 

At some point, Harry loses Louis, but he isn't too worried because he knows his family members are Chelsea fans so he figures they'll have plenty to talk about. He's able to escape his Grandma and Grandpa for a little while to get himself a drink in the kitchen. With how many people he had to thank and hug, Harry's happy he can finally have his peace where no one is around. He's just filling his cup up with some lemonade when he hears footsteps walking into the kitchen, and when he turns around, taking a small sip of his drink, he sees that it's Claire who walked in. 

"Hello, smarty Styles," she greets with a giggle. Claire walks further into the kitchen and joins Harry at the counter.

"Well, hello to you, too Claire Bear." 

Harry grabs a cup for her and begins pouring her some lemonade as well. He hands it to her once he's finished, and he walks over to the dining table so the two of them can sit down. Harry knows how tired Claire can get if she stands too long. 

"So how long you guys staying? A few days, I hope."

Claire frowns, tapping her fingers on the sides of the cup. "We're just here for the day," she sighs, sadly. "I have to go to the hospital tomorrow to get a check up and some more test done so we can't stay too long."

Harry tries not to make his pout evident, but he knows he's failing when Claire's eyes sadden. He wishes she can just stay for a little bit and spend time with him. With as much as she has to go through on the daily, Harry just wants to remind her that she is still a child. She has to spend most of her days in the hospital to get check ups and lots of test done, and she never really gets to experience life outside of it. When the two of them were neighbors, Harry tried his best to always play with her to make her smile. It was nice when she had a long day at the hospital and came home to make flower crowns with Harry or do a puzzle or color. It was nice because Harry knew he was doing his best to make her have fun, but now that they're separated, Harry doesn't think Claire gets that sense of normalcy anymore, and it breaks his heart knowing that. 

"No worries though, Hazza," Claire quickly reassures. She sits up on her knees on the chair and reaches over to pat at Harry's arm. "We still have enough time to have fun together."

Harry smiles a little. "You're right, munchkin."

They're interrupted when another body enters the kitchen. Harry takes notice and sees that it's Louis poking his head through to look for someone, and when he makes eye contact with Harry, he furrows his brows together. "Have you seen your mum?" he questions, and Harry raises his eyebrows in surprise because he definitely wasn't expecting Louis to be searching for his mother. 

"Nope, sorry. I lost her awhile ago."

Louis huffs and turns back around. He goes into the living room to see if she's in there, but all he sees is Gemma talking to some older people, who Louis assumes are her grandparents. He does another lap inside the house and then heads outside to the backyard hoping she'll be out there. He swears he's looked everywhere twice, but when he walks through the patio doors, he sees Anne next to Robin at the grill. Louis breathes out in relief and quickly walks next to her side, huffing loudly now that he's finally found her. 

"Anne, I've been looking everywhere for you," he calls out. 

"I just came back from the bathroom, dear," Anne responds, laughing a little at the wild look on Louis' face. 

_Damn,_ the bathroom, why didn't Louis think of that. 

"Anyway," Louis shakes his head, gently pulling Anne away from Robin so they can talk privately. "I was wondering if you ever talked to Harry about traveling with me for the Euro Cup this summer? I think he'll have so much fun, and he'll have Zayn and Liam there as well. You can even ask Robin how nice of a lad Liam is. He's great."

Anne starts laughing softly, pressing her hand on Louis' shoulder. "I haven't directly asked if he was going, but I did mention that you were playing in it. Of course, my son had no idea." She sighs, Louis smiles. "I don't mind if he goes with you. I agree, it would be fun for him, but I think you should ask him yourself."

Louis brightens up instantly, letting out a relieved breath he didn't realize he was holding in. "Really?" he questions eagerly. 

"Really," Anne agrees. "But under one condition -"

"Whatever it is. I promise, I'll follow it."

Anne makes a face, a troubled one. "No sex, please?" Louis chokes on his own spit, opening his mouth to say something but then quickly closing it because he definitely wasn't expecting that. "I know it's weird for me to say, but I just don't think - I - well - _Um_ \- just no sex."

There's a strange sound that comes out of Louis before he blurts, "Like ever?" He closes his eyes once he says it and begins shaking his head. That is not what he meant to say. 

"It's just too soon, yeah?" Anne reasons with, but even Louis can see how uncomfortable she is looking right now. It's like this is the last conversation she wants to be having ever, but at the same time, she seems urgent about it. Louis doesn't understand it, but he tries to relax Anne by easily agreeing with her. 

After the conversation is over, a heavy and awkward silence following, Louis slowly steps away from Anne so she can go back to Robin. Louis finds himself nearly rushing out the backyard because he knows the talk with Anne was rather _odd._ He's more than excited she gave Harry permission to travel with him, but he really wasn't expecting the topic of sex to ever come up. Well, it did, and Louis feels slightly uncomfortable and like Harry's mother is kind of the last person he wants to see right now, rather, he doesn't want to see any adult right now, so he starts to seek out where Harry is. He's lucky when he finds Harry munching on some chicken, sitting alone at the dining table, no one bothering him. Of course that gives Louis perfect access to barge in there and drag Harry out of the kitchen, directing him through the entire house until they are walking out the front door and heading towards a truck. 

"Who's truck is this?" Harry questions right away, not even bothered that Louis nearly tore his arm off trying to get him outside. Louis doesn't answer, just smiles happily and opens the passenger door for Harry. With a raised eyebrow, Harry gets inside and waits for Louis to go in the driver's seat before asking another question. "Where are we going?"

"You're full of questions, huh?" Louis teases, putting the keys into the ignition. 

Harry scoffs. "You stole me from my own party. I think I'm allowed to interrogate you."

"It's a surprise."

Harry gives up asking questions after that, knowing well from experience that Louis will not give up what he's planning. Instead, Harry relaxes against the seat and stares out the window, wondering if he pay close enough attention to where Louis is driving them, he'll be able to figure out where it is they're going. He has no luck during the ride. Harry just notices that they're going away from the suburbs and going closer to an area that is surrounded by trees. Eventually, Louis turns down a dirt road, and Harry has to turn and look at him questionably before Louis starts smiling widely. Harry keeps quiet and continues to wait in anticipation, even as Louis pulls up to a small pay window. Louis requests two tickets and for Side A so after he gets his change and listens to the workers direction on where to go, he begins driving down the dirt path until he's turning into a section where a large scree is set up with various cars parked around. Harry looks around curiously as Louis backs into a spot directly in front of the screen, and once he's parked, he turns the car off and finally looks at Harry. 

"A drive in?" Harry questions, lips stretching into a wide smile. He's never been to a drive in before. 

"I figured it would be a good way to end the night."

Louis winks at Harry and is the first to get out the truck. The brief minute where Harry's sitting inside alone, he lets out a laugh and shakes his head, still not believing that Louis would plan something like this. It's kind of romantic, in a way, and Harry doesn't know if this is supposed to be a date or a friendly hang out, but either way, his heart is beating in anticipation for something, and he's _really_ hoping this is more on the date side. 

Harry soon gets out the truck as well and walks around to the bed of the truck to see Louis setting everything up. He widens his eyes when he sees the mountain of blankets and the influx of pillows everywhere. There's even a speaker sitting on top of the ledge, and a whole basket of goodies sat in the middle of everything. Harry lets out a heady breath and places his hands right on the end of the bed, blinking up at Louis and watching as he takes a seat up against the pillows with a smile. Harry shakes his head fondly, still kind of speechless to everything that's happening, and just jumps up on the bed to join Louis whenever he pats the spot next to him. It's the best he can do. He feels like Louis has just swept him off his feet and completely took all his breath away, and the only thing he even feels capable doing right now is just to blindly follow Louis. 

Once Harry is situated next to Louis, their legs touching, eyes looking at one another, Louis clears his throat. 

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me this summer," Louis begins, licking his lips nervously, seeing those bright green eyes of Harry's shimmer under the dim light of the drive in. Louis sighs breathily and reaches up to gently run his fingers down the side of Harry's face and smiles again. "I'm playing in the Euro Cup, and we get to travel a lot so I was wondering if you wanted to travel with me?"

Harry's eyes widen in shock. "W-what?"

"I'm traveling Europe with the England Team," Louis repeats softly, biting his lip. "I thought it would be fun if you tagged along. You can take pictures of whatever you want, and you'll get to explore the countries we're in. I asked your mum and she said it's up to you."

Harry lets out a shaky breath and straightens up in his spot, feeling speechless _again._ "Louis, I - are you being serious?" 

Louis nods his head, laughing under his breath. "One hundred percent." Louis moves his fingers from Harry's cheek and begins trailing them down to his shoulder, tapping along the length of his arm until he's at Harry's hand, and then he's lacing their fingers together. 

Harry's breath hitches in his throat. So that's how Louis' hand feels in his own. 

"I would love to go," Harry whispers in response. 

"I kind of have another surprise as well." Harry raises his eyebrows. "Here," Louis then says, reaching for the keys he had in his back pocket and hands it to Harry. 

Harry grabs them hesitantly and looks up at Louis, confused. "Your truck keys?"

"Yeah, why not?" Louis shrugs, squeezing Harry's hand. "You need something to drive, and this 'ole thing has been locked up for years. I want you to have it."

Harry frowns. "Louis, I can't take this."

Harry tries to give the keys back, but with his free hand, Louis wraps his fingers around Harry's so that Harry's fingers close around keys. He then lowers Harry's hand back to his lap and keeps his own hand pressed on top so Harry has absolutely no way of returning them. Harry huffs, but he smiles softly, blinking up into Louis' eyes and finding himself locked in on staring. It's like Harry is stuck again, solely focused on the beautiful blue irises that are looking back at him like he's worth a million bucks. It makes his stomach flutter with an influx of butterflies, and it makes his heart race so fast he fears that Louis might hear him. There's an unsteady breath that presses past Harry's lips, and at the thought of Louis noticing, he closes his mouth and swallows. That's when Louis' eyes quickly flick down to his lips, and on reflex, Harry finds himself doing the same to Louis' lips. 

Now all he's thinking about is what it's like to kiss Louis. 

"Can I tell you secret?" Louis finally says in the silence, eyes finding their way back to Harry. He waits for Harry to nod, and then he's continuing. "I liked when you slept over at my place. It was nice to fall asleep with you by my side." Louis smiles when he sees and evident blush creeping on to Harry's cheek. "I also liked waking up cuddled together."

Harry's widen again. "You noticed that, too?"

Louis nodded slowly. "It was nice - cuddling with you. You're warm."

Harry opens his mouth to say something, but instead, his lips are stretching in to a smile. He shakes his head when a breathy laugh comes out, and he ends up ducking his head down to look at his lap. "You make my heart race," he admits under his breath. He figures if Louis can tell a secret then he might as well, too. When Harry looks up again, he sees Louis practically preening so Harry moves Louis' hand to his chest and places Louis' palm flat on his pec, wanting him to feel just how fast his heart is beating right now. 

"It's been like that all day," Harry continues, carefully looking into Louis' eyes, nervous he's pushing over the line, but he sees Louis leaning forward, like he wants to get closer to him. Harry breathes deeply out his nose. 

Louis feels Harry's heart under his palm and can tell his own heart quickens in pace as well. He laughs a little at it, curling his fingers into Harry's shirt and looking into Harry's eyes again, leaning just an inch forward until their noses are nearly touching. With a nervous gulp, Louis asks, "Can I kiss you?"

It feels like all the puzzles in Harry's life start fitting together, and the world around him doesn't matter. All that matters are Louis lips - Louis lips on his own lips, and Harry can't think of anything else he wants more than to kiss Louis right now. It's been a lingering thought for the longest time, but now, it's finally about to happen. They've had so many instances where it seemed like they would kiss over the past few months, but there was always something interrupting their moment. But now, it's just them - it's just Harry and Louis, and as all the stars align in the sky, it seems right. It seems like the perfect moment to see how precisely their lips slot together. Harry knows it'll be great. He can feel it deep within his gut that every ounce of his body wants to get a taste of Louis, and he's never felt like this before. With Tanner, it was so dreadful. Everything Harry is feeling now was the complete opposite to when it came to kissing Tanner, and Louis knew this. Louis knows how much Harry hated kissing Tanner and how horrible of an experience it was for him so now it seems like Louis is trying to make up for it - wants Harry to know that kisses can be good, and kissing can be a magical thing to happen. 

So with a slow, shaky breath, Harry leans closer, rubbing his nose against Louis' and whispering a "kiss me you, fool" before he feels the first press of Louis' lips against his own. 

It so gentle with the way Louis presses forward, like he's nervous himself to get a kiss. He's careful and soft, and his hand winds around the back of Harry's head to keep him in place, to ground him to his spot as he puts a little bit more pressure against Harry's lips. Harry hums when he feels the way Louis' mouth wraps around his own, like its a perfect match. It's like fireworks are going off all around and there's sparks igniting his body. He feels alive and jittery, having Louis' lips rest so nicely against his own, but it only last a few seconds before Louis is slowly pulling back, blinking his eyes open to gauge in Harry's reaction. 

When he sees there's a cheeky smile on Harry's face, Louis decides to give more. Louis cups both sides of Harry's face and brings him closer so he can press his lips deeper against Harry's, now getting a full taste of the boy. Their lips turn left, then right, and then it's a long drawn out kiss with the way their lips twist together. The kiss sends a shrill down Harry's body all the way to his toes. His fingers are tingling with want, his heart is just rabbiting in his chest, and everything seems to be silenced by the sound of their lips smacking against each other. It's truly magnificent, and if Louis isn't currently holding on to Harry right now, Harry swears he would melt right on top of the bed of the truck. Gosh, Louis' lips feel amazing, and they're so soft and gentle that Harry genuinely might cry with how amazing this moment is. 

After a couple quick kisses, Louis finally pulls back, but only enough to where he can rest his forehead against Harry's. When Harry opens his eyes, Louis smiles and wipes at the corner of his mouth. "How was it?" he questions. 

Harry furrows his brows together in confusion. "How was what?"

"Our kiss. How was it? You once told me you didn't like kissing so I want to see if anything changed."

Harry's face breaks out into the biggest smile. "I definitely like kissing you." Harry grabs Louis' hand again and presses it to his chest, just to prove how much he likes it. "See. You make my heart go crazy."

"Perfect," Louis whispers, smiling, leaning in to press another kiss to Harry's lips. "So now what do you say about being my boyfriend?" 

Louis smirks when he feels Harry's heart literally jump in his chest. 

"What?" Harry questions again, clearly confused, or unsure, like he isn't one hundred percent he heard Louis correctly. 

"Will you be my boyfriend so I can take you on more dates?"

"Is this a date?" Harry smiles, coyly, scooting closer into Louis' side. 

"Our first date, I hope."

Harry nods his head, giggling as he leans in to press three quick kisses to Louis' mouth. "Yes, I want to be your boyfriend."

"Perfect." Louis is still smiling as he gets situated against the pillows. He lifts his one arm up and invites Harry into his side, wrapping his arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close. They get comfortable together as the screen ahead turns on and begins showing the commercials for the first movie. Louis ignores it and turns his head to look at Harry, pressing a finger underneath his chin and lifting his head up. "I can't wait to take you on so many dates over the summer."

"You're going to proper spoil me, huh?" Harry giggles, biting his bottom lip. 

With a sigh, Louis looks back at the screen, smirking. "Oh, you don't even know."


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like doing the instagram posts

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//

"Give. Me. Your. Phone," Harry whines, practically leaping over the hotel bed until his body is laying directly on top of Louis'. Louis simply laughs and stretches his arm out of reach for Harry, shaking his hand teasingly where its holding his phone. "Delete the photo, Lou," Harry complains, attempting to grab the phone again, but Louis uses his free hand to push Harry off his body. 

Harry falls back on the mattress with a groan. 

"What's wrong with it, babe? You look cute."

"I look like a mess," Harry pouts. 

Louis rolls his eyes and sits up, pressing his hand on top of Harry's stomach. "No you don't," he amends, leaning down to kiss Harry's cheek. "Plus, I like showing you off."

Harry grumbles under his breath, glancing to the side and refusing to look at Louis. 

"Oh, come on. It's our first picture I posted together. You know how many people love that shit."

Harry finally looks at Louis and snorts, leaning up on the bed until he's sitting next to Louis. "I bet people will love that the hot, young bachelor Louis Tomlinson is taken."

Louis instantly beams at that. "I know I love it."

It really wasn't hard for the media and the tabloids to pick up on this new person Louis was with all the time. It started when paparazzi spotted Harry and Louis arriving at the airport together, and then it furthered when people spotted the two of them traveling Europe outside of the games Louis had to play. They went on a lot of adventures together, and for some reason, all the people around seemed more fascinated in that than their own lives. So lots of pictures surfaced. Their dates kept getting interrupted, and any time they wanted to kiss or hold hands, they had cameras instantly flashing for more pictures. It was kind of ridiculous, but at the same time, it was also nice to not feel like they have to hide anything. Hopefully the picture Louis post is enough to calm everyone down about Louis' love life for awhile. 

Harry starts smiling and crawls over the bed until he's in Louis' space. He presses quick kisses against Louis' lips before he's angling his body around to grab the camera on the nightstand. He puts the camera strap around his neck and turns back to Louis. With a smile, he pushes Louis back so he falls on the mattress and maneuvers himself so he can sit on top of Louis' belly, thighs going on either side of his body with Louis' hands instinctively going to Harry's hips. 

When Harry brings the camera up to his eyes, lens pointed right at Louis' face, Louis frowns. "What are you doing?"

There's a shuttering sound, and then Harry is lowering the camera from his eye. 

"I like to take pictures of beautiful things."

Louis hums thoughtfully, squeezing Harry's hips teasingly. "Are you flirting with me Styles?"

"Maybe." Harry bites his lips, taking another quick picture of Louis, mainly aiming it at his bare chest. He giggles and takes the camera from around his neck to place it back on the nightstand before he's dropping his forearms on either side of Louis' head to bend his body on top of Louis', smiling, humming, rubbing his nose against Louis'. 

"You don't have to flirt with me. You already got me," Louis responds, tilting his head up to kiss Harry's lips. 

Harry moans into the kiss when their lips slide easily together, feeling Louis push his tongue into his mouth. Harry smiles into the kiss and sucks Louis' tongue in, breathing in the strong, musky scent of Louis' cologne and suffocating himself in all things Louis. Louis' hands are on his back, squeezing at his hips, trailing slowly down to his ass until he's squeezing there too. Their chest are pressed together, no inch of space in between their bodies, and Harry loves being this close to him. Their lips continue to move, and Harry finds himself slowly rocking his body on top of Louis' lap when there's a warm shrill of pleasure flowing straight to his groin, and the restriction of his tight jeans on his legs isn't enough to relieve much pressure. Louis squeezes on tighter to Harry's ass as Harry moves his lips to Louis' jaw, nibbling on the skin there before he's going to suck Louis' ear in his mouth. 

"Harry," Louis moans, tilting his head up so he can look up at the ceiling, panting loudly as he digs his fingers into Harry's skin. "Harry," he repeats again. "I have a game today," he tries to remind, swallowing when Harry's hip don't stop. "Baby, _please_ ," Louis then nearly begs, sounding desperate and whiny, and Harry finally pulls back, a frown on his face and a pout to his lips. 

"Okay," Harry amends, holding his hands out in front of him to prove that he isn't going to touch anymore. He's still pouting though, and Louis starts laughing. 

"Don't be upset," Louis teases. He reaches up to pinch at Harry's bottom lip and giggles when Harry's pout deepens. "You're smile is too beautiful to be sad."

Harry finally cracks a smile. "Now are you flirting with me?"

Louis hums and leans up to kiss Harry's chin. "I'm always trying to flirt with you."

Louis continues to press kisses all along Harry's jawline until Harry is having to pull away with a giggle. He playfully slaps at Louis' chest and gets off his body, now standing at the side of the bed. 

"Don't you have a game to get ready for?" Harry reminds with a smirk, hands going to his hips. 

"Maybe I can skip it."

"Go get ready you fool."

**//**

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//

England plays Ukraine today for the Euro Cup. It's currently tied 0 to 0 with ten minutes left, and the entire stadium is buzzing with anticipation for a team to finally score something. 

Since Harry travelled with Louis, he gets some of the best seats in the entire place. He gets to sit alongside the field, right at the bottom row, the VIP seating that all other special guest of the England players get to sit in. It's been pretty cool because it means Harry's able to take as many pictures of Louis as he wants, and he's close enough to get some good shots as well. He's happy because for once, he gets to take however many photos he wants, and he doesn't have to worry about getting pictures of everyone. For now, his entire camera roll is Louis, Louis, Louis. Harry loves it. 

Harry's sitting on the edge of his seat when he feels someone tap his shoulder. England had just gotten possession of the ball so their entire section starts cheering. Harry jolts at both the touch and the loud sounds, but when he turns to see who it is greeting him, he sees its a young woman with a welcoming smile. 

"Hello, you're Harry right? I think I heard that you were dating Louis Tomlinson."

Harry smiles in return, being that obnoxious boyfriend and turning around to show the jersey that he is wearing belongs to Louis. The woman starts laughing softly as Harry turns back around. "Yeah, I'm Louis' boyfriend, Harry Styles."

"That's so cute. My name is Alexi Jones," the women, Alexi, then greets. "My husband is Wes Jones. He is number twenty-three, the defender. He plays for Liverpool."

"Nice to meet you," Harry smiles, shaking Alexi's hand. "Louis plays for Chelsea, and I think he's a -" Harry is interrupted when there is a loud eruption of cheers coming from England's section of the stadium. 

Harry jerks his head to the field and sees what exactly is going on. An England player just stole the ball under Ukraine's possession and is quickly dribbling the ball down the pitch until they are nearing their goal. Louis is finding an opening through the opponents players, and when he does, he calls out for the ball. Harry's eyes widen when the England player kicks the ball towards Louis, and when Louis gets the ball under his feet, he runs a little bit before he's rearing his leg back and sending the ball flying into the top corner of the net, easily flying past the goalie's fingers. Harry jumps up and begins cheering along with all the other England fans, and he finds himself pulling Alexi into a hug and jumping around in celebration with her. 

There's a small celebration on the field where Louis quickly points up to the sky before a couple players are jumping on his back. Louis' laughing loudly and pushing around with his teammates, but when he looks into the stands and quickly catches Harry's eyes, he blows him a kiss and points directly at him. Harry starts giggling like a fool and blows a kiss back, nibbling on his bottom lip and smiling like a fool. 

"You two are adorable," Alexi says once the initial excitement of the goal settles down, and everyone is back to sitting in their chairs. 

"I feel like we're a cliche couple," Harry laughs, pointing to the jersey he's wearing as emphasis. 

Alexi shakes her head, disagreeing. "I'm wearing Wes' jersey number," she points out. 

"Look at my nails," Harry then says, biting his bottom lip when he shows the red paint on his nails and Louis' number painted on his pointer and middle finger. Alexi grabs his hand and looks at it, laughing a little. "He wanted my nails to even be painted for him."

"This is so fucking cute," Alexi coo's, looking at both painted nails and smiling like a fool. 

Harry shrugs his shoulders and brings his hands back to his own lap. "What about you and Wes? Me and Louis are a new couple so of course we are all gross and lovey dove, but how is it with a couple that's been together for longer?"

"Me and Wes started dating when we were fourteen," Alexi admits with a smile, sighing at the sudden memory of it. "He asked me to a school dance on a piece of paper. It said check yes or no if you'll go with me. Of course, I checked yes, and well, we went to the dance, and we started dating. I even still have the note."

Harry gasps. "Wow, you two have been together for a long time."

"It's been a bumpy road, but we're happy together."

"You haven't had like problem with fans?"

Alexi shrugs, tilting her head side to side. "Kind of," she admits. "At the beginning of Wes' career, it was hard, but I had to trust him. It got better once we got married and had a child together. Now we mainly have support pages for our family and it's really sweet to see them."

Harry hums thoughtfully and looks out at the field again, smiling when Louis kicks the ball over to Wes. "That sounds romantic," Harry says dreamingly. "You were with Wes when his dreams were coming true. It seems so storybook perfect." Harry sighs and looks at Alexi, taking notice of the shiny silver band on her ring finger. "Sometimes I kind of wish I knew Louis before it all, too."

"How long have you two been together?"

Harry snorts. "We just started dating in June, so not even a month, but to be fair, I knew him since September. I hated him at first, if I'm being honest."

"Those are the best kinds of love stories, though," Alexi tries with a smile, turning it into a laugh when Harry makes a face. "Oh, come on. Nothing is more romantic than a couple who first hated each other and then fell in love. Now _that's_ a storybook romance."

Harry huffs, smiling. "He was seriously an ass when I first met him. I think I was scarred for a week straight."

Alexi rolls her eyes and pats Harry's arm. "I think what you have is perfect," she admits, looking out into the field. "Louis is about to be a big name in football, he has the potential, and you get to be by his side for it all. He's going to be a changed man, and you're going to be the person why. You two are going to be the new Posh and Becks for sure."

Harry starts laughing uncontrollably. "As long as Louis is Becks, then I'll get under that."

"You're so bad," Alexi giggles, swatting at Harry playfully. 

The two of them end up talking for the remainder of the game. Alexi shows a bunch of pictures of her new born son Jaxson to Harry, and Harry practically swoons at how adorable her baby is. Jaxon is currently five months old, he's at home with Alexi's parents, and Harry cannot wait until future England games happen where Alexi can bring Jaxson along. Harry's definitely baby crazy, and he tries to keep his excitement to a minimum when Alexi talks all about her pregnancy and Jaxson's development, but it's so hard for Harry to not practically squeal at every new piece of information. 

"I know it's so weird to say," Harry says after awhile, handing Alexi her phone back after scrolling through nearly all her pictures. "But I would _love_ to have a baby." After he says it, Harry's eyes widen in shock, and he quickly covers his mouth with a giggle. "I don't know why I said that," he cringes. "Don't tell Louis that."

Alexi simply shrugs in response, smirking. "It's not weird or wrong," she amends, glancing at Harry. "You never know what can happen."

Harry tilts his head at the comment, but he doesn't bother to say anything else. The two of them go back to watching the game, and England ends up winning 1 to 0. The game is over by mid-afternoon so that gives all the players free time for the remainder of the day to do whatever they want, and then in the morning, they will take the next flight to their new destination for games. Harry follows Alexi with the crowd of the VIP seating to where they are supposed to meet with their England players. They stadium has a waiting room down below near the locker rooms, or they have the whole back lot where they can freely stand around where all the fans and paparazzi are waiting around for players so Harry can go to either while waiting for Louis. 

Alexi quickly finds Wes once their down in the tunnels and goes over to join him while Zayn seeks out Harry in the crowd. They remain inside for the time being so they can all leave together, and once Louis is done freshening up, he makes his way out the locker room and walks over to where Harry is waiting with Zayn by some food stands. Louis instantly smiles and nearly jogs his way to Harry, getting his arms around the boy and pulling him flushed against his chest. 

"Hey, you," Louis greets, pressing a fat kiss to Harry's cheek.

Harry giggles and is about to properly kiss Louis on the lips, but Zayn walks up and interrupts their moment. "Louis, as always, you played amazing today," he praises, messing up Louis' wet fringe. 

Louis rolls his eyes and swats at Zayn's hand. "Zayn, leave us alone," he scolds, nearly begging, pulling Harry back into his chest. "Go find and buggar Liam."

Zayn huffs and looks at Harry, trying to see if Harry will support him staying there, but Harry simply shrugs and remains quiet.

"Wow, I can tell I'm not wanted here," Zayn frowns, playfully, rolling his eyes and leaving the two of them when Liam finally emerges from the locker room. 

Harry giggles at Zayn's fleeting figure and turns his body into Louis' and pulls him into a hug. "Hi, Lou," Harry finally greets, burying his nose into Louis' neck and sighing when he gets a strong scent of his cologne and body wash. He always smells nice after a shower. 

"Hi, cheerleader."

"You played good today," Harry mumbles. He pulls back a little bit to look in Louis' eyes, smiling, placing his hands on Louis' chest. He leans down to press a long kiss to Louis' lips and hums when they part. "I'm also really hungry."

Louis steps away, a playful tilt to his lips as he grabs Harry's hand to guide them out the stadium. "Harry Styles, are you trying to take me on a date?"

"Only if you're paying," Harry responds with a wink. 

Louis rolls his eyes, but he takes the two of them to the rental car parked outside the stadium. Most of the area is already cleared out, but there are still lingering fans and paparazzi that get Harry and Louis walking out together. Harry remains close to Louis' side and covers his face so the bright flashes don't bother him. Louis keeps his head ducked down and holds on tightly to Harry until they finally make it to their rental. He opens the passenger door quickly and ushers Harry inside before he's walking around to get into the driver's side. Once they're free from the fans and cameras, Louis drives them to a Ukrainian restaurant they intended on going after today's game. 

They get to the restaurant in a short amount of time, and Louis guides Harry inside towards the hostess station. "Chotyry," Louis tells her. 

Harry raises his eyebrows, but he refrains from saying anything. Instead, he and Louis follow the hostess after she grabs four menus. She leads the two of them through the restaurant until she's stopping at a table in the back. Harry and Louis share a look with one another, and Louis ends up pulling Harry's chair out for him before he's taking the seat next to him. The hostess smiles and hands them their menus, saying something in Ukrainian that Harry doesn't understand, but he's still smiling at her. Once she leaves, Harry immediately turns to Louis with a questioning look on his face. 

"What did you say to her earlier?" Harry wonders. 

"I said four," Louis laughs, playfully hitting the menu against Harry's arm. "That's about as much Ukraine I know. Normally, Zayn speaks for me."

As if on cue, Zayn and Liam are walking up shortly and joining the two of them at the table. 

"Zayn, you know Ukraine?" Harry questions once the two of them are seated. 

"Not really," Zayn replies, reading over the menu slowly. "But I do the work and the research so I can communicate here."

"Can you read the menu?" 

Zayn nods. "Yeah, I looked up their specialties." 

Zayn begins explaining all the dishes that this specific restaurant is known for. He recognizes some of the pictures on the menu and uses those as his guide to which meals they should order. He's name a few that Harry thinks he wouldn't mind eating, but his listening gets interrupted when he feels Louis' foot tap against his shin, and he's then directing his attention towards Louis. 

"So, have you had fun traveling?" Louis wonders, scooting his chair closer to Harry's. 

Harry nods his head and ends up leaning over so he can rest on Louis' shoulder, hand finding his way to Louis' and lacing their fingers together. "I'm having a blast," Harry admits with a smile, blushing when Louis brings their hands to his lips so he can kiss Harry's knuckles. "I met someone new at the game. I kind of wish I met her sooner, but she's sweet."

"So you're glad Niall didn't come then?"

Harry snorts. "Honestly, yes," he laughs, feeling Louis' body shake with a laugh as well. "I like getting to spend this time alone with you."

"I remember a time when you used to hate being around me," Louis hums thoughtfully. 

Harry smiles, bitting his lip as he tilts his head towards Louis' face. "You know I secretly liked it," he admits coyly, pressing a chaste kiss to Louis' neck. 

"Hey, love birds -" Liam interrupts with a whistle, subtly pointing his head to the waitress who has now shown up, trying to get Harry and Louis to pay attention. "We're ordering now."

"Yeah," Zayn frowns, playfully. "Stop being cute and shit. It's gross."

Harry and Louis turn to look at one another and smile brightly, and just for shits and giggles, they end up leaning forward to kiss one another.

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**//**

England loses in the quarterfinals against Italy, 4 to 2 in penalties. Their game is held in Poland, and they don't have to leave until the next day so Louis really isn't all that upset he gets to spend the rest of the evening with Harry. He plans to take him to a nice restaurant for a proper date. Louis even called ahead of time to get a reservation for the two of them. 

Harry's cooped up in the ensuite trying to get himself ready for it. He knows this is technically his and Louis' first, proper, fancy date, and he wants to make sure he looks good enough. He took almost an hour long shower just to make sure he smelt good, then he spent nearly half an hour in his towel just staring at all his clothes wondering what the hell he should wear. Now he's rolling on hour number three, and he finally has a potential outfit hung up on the bathroom door and his towel replaced with a loose t shirt and boxers. So, Harry is making progress. It's slow progress, but at least it's progress. 

Harry's just putting products in his hair to help make his curls prominent when he hears his phone buzzing on the sink counter. He curses under his breath and quickly wipes his hands off before he's fumbling for his phone. He presses answer and puts it against his ear. 

"Hi, mum," he greets, going back to ruffling his curls up. 

"Hi sweetheart," she chimes through the line, sounding happy to be talking to her son. "How's it going? Is Louis treating you good?"

Harry sighs happily, slouching his body against the counter. "He's treating me the best," he answers dreamingly, arching a little bit backwards to see Louis through the crack of the bathroom doors. He smiles when he see Louis in only a towel around his waist. "He's taking me on a proper date tonight."

Anne awes. "Sounds nice. Where are you guys?"

"We're in Poland."

"Hm, I bet that's exciting. I hope the two of you have a great night. Maybe you, Louis, Robin and I can have dinner one night whenever you guys get back in."

Harry smiles right away. "We would love that, mum. I miss you guys."

"We miss you, too, sweetie. But I'll _uh -_ I'll let you get back to getting ready. I know you're probably a mess right now trying to figure out what to wear."

Well, she's not wrong.

"Okay, mum. Talk to you later."

Harry hangs up the phone and goes back to getting ready. He knows he has about an hour left before the two of them actually have to leave so Harry needs to pick up his slack. Louis is nearly dressed already, probably on the bed by now playing games on his phone while he waits for Harry. So Harry finishes up fluffing his hair before he's stripping his lounge clothes off his body so he can put his nice clothes on. Once he's finally dressed, he grabs some spray, freshens himself up, and then walks out the room to see Louis exactly how Harry expected him to be, lounging on the bed while lazily messing on his phone. Louis looks up when he hears Harry step in, and he instantly smiles when seeing the boy. The two share a quick kiss, and then they are heading out the hotel room to take the rental to the restaurant Louis has reservations at. 

With a hand pressed to the base of Harry's spine, Louis guides Harry inside the place to the hostess stand. Louis gives his name, waits a couple of seconds, and then is following the hostess through the restaurant until they're stopped at a table in the back corner. There's a white table cloth on top with a single rose and a candle placed in the middle. Louis smiles at the hostess and lets her place the menus on the table before he's pulling Harry's chair out again. Harry smiles thankfully at Louis and takes his seat, casually watching as Louis does the same from across his seat. 

"Cieszyć się," the hostess says before she is turning away to head back towards the front. 

"So, do you know what she said?" Harry wonders when they're finally alone, smiling as he pushes his boot out so he can touch Louis' shin. 

"Enjoy," Louis answers proudly, glancing at the menu for a couple of seconds before he realizes that he actually doesn't understand anything. He frowns and sets it back down. "Zayn sent me a bunch of stuff about this place to help us order food."

"Perfect," Harry sighs in relief, setting the menu down as well. "I didn't understand anything," he follows with a laugh.

The waitress comes by shortly to bring the table two glasses of water, and Louis whispers a soft thank you in Polish before he's grabbing his glass to take a drink. "So, are you ready to head back home now that we're done playing?" Louis wonders, putting his water back on the table. 

Harry frowns at the question. "Not really, no. I'm having fun here."

In all honesty, Harry's been having the time of his life following Louis around in Europe. It's nice having Zayn by his side too so he isn't alone all the time, and now meeting Alexi, he's really been enjoying the games with some company, but despite watching Louis play football, he's been having a lot more fun outside of the games. He gets to explore all the countries they travel too, and he also gets to try the different foods. It's been a great experience, and Harry's enjoyed getting to take so many pictures everywhere he goes, and on top of that, Harry gets to spend so much alone time with Louis, and it feels great. Harry likes Louis so much, and he's realized that all the kisses they share, every time they hold hands, and every night they get to fall asleep in each other's arms is something Harry looks forward to every day. 

After awhile of endless conversation, the waitress eventually comes back to take their orders. Since Harry doesn't even want to attempt in trying to say what meal he wants, he lets Louis order from him. He ends up getting a dish called _Gołąbki,_ which is a cabbage dish mixed with spiced, minced meat and rice, and Louis ends up getting _Kaczka z jabłkami,_ a roasted duck dish with apples. They are two completely opposite meals, but Harry is just as eager to taste his food as he is to steal a bite from Louis'. 

"So," Louis sighs once they're alone again, reaching across the table to grab Harry's hand. Harry smiles and turns his palm over, inviting Louis to lace their fingers together. 

"You seem happy," Harry admits when there's a growing smile on Louis' face, one that always appears whenever he looks at Harry. Harry notices every time, and blushes every time, like he is right now, but this time, he doesn't feel the need to hide anything. If anything, he embraces it. 

"Well, you make me happy."

Harry bites his lip and leans forward, meeting Louis in the middle to share a sweet kiss over the center of the table. "You make me happy, too," Harry mumbles against Louis' lips, smiling as he kisses Louis again. 

When the two of them pull back to properly sit, there's an evident blush on Harry's cheeks, again, and Louis starts laughing. "You know, you blush a lot," Louis notes, biting his lip when Harry's blush deepens. 

"I can't help it," he whines pitifully, playfully kicking Louis' leg. "When you compliment as much as you do, I get all mushy."

"Mushy?" Louis repeats with a snort. 

Harry rolls his eyes and kicks at Louis' leg again. "Yes, mushy," Harry says confidently, giggling when Louis traps Harry's boot between his legs. 

The waitress comes shortly after to bring the meals to their table. Harry takes a quick bite of his meal first and hums thoughtfully, about to look over a Louis' food to sneak a bite, but Louis is already holding his fork in the air for Harry to take a piece. Harry smiles and grabs the fork, taking the bite and giving it back to Louis. 

"That's pretty good," Harry says, reaching across the table to steal another bite off Louis' plate. "What did you say this was?"

Louis smirks as he looks down at his plate. "It's duck."

Harry grimaces. "Are you kidding me?" He groans, making a disgusted sound before he's grabbing his water to take a giant gulp. "That's disgusting, Louis."

"Harry," Louis laughs. He tries giving Harry another piece, but Harry refuses, big time. "You just said it was good, come on."

Harry shakes his head and happily goes back to his cabbage meal. "I lied to make you feel better," he grumbles. "It's really not that good."

"Well, eat your dang leaf, Harry. I'm not experiencing another midnight trip to the nearest McDonald's."

Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes. "That was one time."

"Yeah, the one time you kicked me awake because you were starving. I still have a bruise on my ass."

Harry rolls his eyes and points his fork at Louis. "Not my fault you are a heavy sleeper."

"It's not my fault you didn't eat your meal that night."

"It was _deer_ , Louis. Deer. I cannot eat deer."

"Apparently you can't eat duck either."

"Who even eats meat?" Harry huffs, shaking his head as he stabs his cabbage, that has meat on it. 

"You're eating meat right now, baby."

Harry grunts, looking down at his plate. "That's true," he agrees, twisting his lips to the side. "Maybe I'll become a vegetarian one day."

Louis rolls his eyes at the comment and goes back to eating his meal. They finish up shortly after in a comfortable silence, and when the waitress comes back to clear the table, Louis orders them a dessert. It's called _Pączki,_ a closed donut filled with a rose marmalade. Harry gets excited to try this dessert, and when the waitress finally brings it over after long minutes of waiting, Harry is already pulling the plate towards his body and out of reach from Louis'.

"You know you have to share, love," Louis reminds with a raised eyebrow, fork in his hand ready to grab a bite when the opportunity is there. 

Harry sticks his tongue out and pulls the plate even closer to his body. "I'm not sure," he hums, cutting himself a piece of the donut. "You don't want me to wake up in the middle of the night with a late McDonalds run, do you?"

Harry smirks and takes a huge bite of the donut, getting the marmalade all over his lips and giggling when some of it dribbles down his chin. 

"You're so cute," Louis ends up blurting out, reaching across to clean up the mess on Harry's face. 

Harry smiles, finally grabbing a napkin to finish cleaning all the mess while he uses his free hand to push the plate in the middle of the table so Louis can now try it. "You always say that," Harry says after a second, blinking up at Louis to see that he's already staring back at him. 

"Come here," Louis whispers. Harry brightens up as he lifts himself off the chair to lean over the table, tilting his head towards Louis and smiling when their lips touch. Louis hums into the kiss, fingers gently holding on to Harry's chin to keep him in place before he's letting go and pulling away. "You taste good."

The two of them stay for a little while longer to finish up the dessert and talk about whatever. When the food is finally gone and the bill makes it to the table, Louis easily pays it without a second thought. Harry doesn't have a chance to argue or attempt to pay for himself - he's learned from their previous restaurant adventures that Louis won't let him pay for anything so he knows to just accept it and be thankful. Which, Harry is very thankful for Louis, and he tries to remind him everyday just how happy that he is for Louis doing everything for him. Louis paid for Harry's flight, he paid for Harry's adventures, and he paid for Harry's meals, and although it doesn't necessarily sit right with Harry to know that Louis is spending all this money on him, he knows Louis means well with it. If Harry's going to date Louis, then he's got to loosen up a little bit, but it's hard sometimes when he knows how expensive some of the things are. 

After the meal is paid, Harry and Louis head back to the hotel. It's late by the time they're walking into the room so they quickly discard their clothes, put their pajamas on, and fall on the bed together. 

"Thank you for dinner," Harry whispers into the dark night, head resting on Louis' chest and hand tangled with Louis'. He smiles when he feels Louis' lips press to his forehead. "Thank you for this entire trip. You didn't have to pay for everything, but I appreciate it."

Louis hums softly as he buries his face on top of Harry's head. "I know I don't, but I like doing it."

Harry closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath through his nose, cuddling in closer. "When we get back," Harry says slowly, words slurred with sleep. "Do you want to come over for dinner?"

"Sure, love."

And then they're both falling asleep. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some sensitive talk at the beginning of the chapter. It's just Harry talking about a low point in his life so please be cautious when reading. Otherwise, enjoy. x

"Stop," Harry whines, giggling like a maniac with Louis pinning him down on the bed, his traitorous fingers continuously digging in to Harry's sides and making him squirm all around. 

Since the two of them have been back from traveling the Euro Cup, they been spending nearly all their time together. When Louis isn't training with Chelsea for their upcoming season, and when Harry isn't taking pictures of Chelsea's off season, the two find their times in Louis' flat. More often than not, Harry spends the night with Louis, either cooking dinner for the two of them or ordering take out so they can have long movie nights on the couch. Overall, the summer has been treating them well. 

After Louis gets enough of tickling Harry, he rolls his body off of Harry and lays flat on his back on the mattress. "Hey, baby, can I ask you something?"

It takes a minute for Harry to catch his breath, but once he is finally breathing at a regular pace, he moves around until he's sitting himself on top of Louis' lap. He smiles when Louis wraps his arms around his waist, keeping Harry steady in his hold. 

"Sure, what is it?"

Louis squeezes Harry's hips. "You're happy, right? Like, you're happy with me?"

"Yes, Lou, of course I am," Harry reassures, frowning at the stage and sudden question. 

"I mean - I'm just curious because not that long ago, you weren't happy because of me. I saw you in your bathroom, and it scares me to think that I ever made you feel that way."

Harry parts his lips and breathes out shakily. "Oh," he mumbles, swallowing, brushing hair out his face because he isn't sure what else to do. "What happened then wasn't just because of you. It was kind of everything piling up, and I think you were just the tipping point," he explains slowly. "I mean, I had my mum to deal with, I was arguing with Niall. Tanner wouldn't leave me alone. My mum slapped me, and then I don't know - I liked you, and I walked in on you and a girl. I was just at a breaking point."

"The door though," Louis whispers, eyes drooping a little. "The tallies," he whispers even quieter, almost insecurely. 

"I know it's weird," Harry laughs self deprecating, shaking his head. "You know, there are people out there who can do things to help make them feel better about life. Like some people take walks, some people work out, some people paint, some people take it out on others, but for me, it was carving in the cabinet door. I liked it because I knew it would always be there, and one day I wanted to look back at it and say that I beat whatever it was that I was going through."

"That's how I feel when I play football."

"Yeah, it's just an outlet I suppose."

Louis hums, still frowning. "Harry," he then says worriedly, blinking up at Harry again. "Has it ever gotten to the point where you didn't use the door? Like, have you ever ..." Louis pauses mid sentence because the topic is too sensitive that he can't even finish saying it. As much as he wants to know, he's also nervous for what he's about to hear. 

With a swallow, Harry looks down at his lap, fingers playing with the edge of his shirt. "Kind of," he whispers. "Before I moved to London."

There's a small pause where Harry doesn't move, but with Louis strong hands pressing on his waist, he knows he is safe. It takes a lot of strength for Harry to get the nerves he feels inside of his body to calm down, and it's easy enough for him to do so when Louis quickly leans up to kiss at Harry's nose. Harry relaxes, and he finally lifts his shirt up with one hand and then pulls the edge of his shorts down just a little bit so a sliver of his hip bone is exposed. That's when Louis sees it. A stray, ugly scar running across Harry's skin, a faint mark that has healed over time, but still prominent enough to let Louis know that it must have hurt. 

Louis' fingers find their way to the mark, and he begins lightly tracing the scar, breathing slowly, memorizing the shape, the cut, the color of it. 

"My life in Cheshire really was shit. It was so bad my mum had to move us away," Harry begins, waiting until Louis finishes touching his hip so he can cover it back up with his clothes. "I got bullied a lot at school because for one, my parents were getting a divorce, and for two, my best friend was my little cousin. I would rather make flower crowns with her and play pretend with her than get dirty with the boys or embarrass myself with sports. But everything I did with Claire, it helped calm me down. The flower crowns helped calm me down. It was something I could put all my focus into, and nothing else mattered to me."

Harry has tears building up in his eyes, and Louis moves his hands from Harry's hips to his thighs, squeezing tightly. Harry clears his throat and continues. 

"Claire loved to wear the flower crowns all the time. It made her feel more alive so of course I would continue to make them. She's sick, you know, so I would do anything to make her smile, and one day after we made a crap ton of flower crowns, she begged me to wear the one she made. I mean, she said she worked on this particular crown _for months_ , and my school had a dress up day so she thought the flower crown would be a perfect fit." Harry pauses to laugh bitterly, wiping under his eyes. "Well, that day I wore it, and people came after me. They knew I was gay. They knew I didn't have a steady home. They knew my only friend was a child, and they knew I was a _loser,_ Louis. They ripped the crown off my head, punched me to the ground, and tore it up right in front of my face. Then they just beat me up, for no reason - beat me to a pulp. I had blood everywhere, a busted lip, I even fractured my wrist. No one helped me. They all laughed and recorded me. It was embarrassing and the most pain I had ever felt in my entire life."

Harry pauses to wipe at his eyes again, and Louis slowly sits himself up so he can properly be face to face with Harry. "Harry," he whispers to the boy, bringing his hands up to cup the sides of his cheek just to let Harry know that he's there for him. 

"After everything happened at school, I panicked so bad," Harry continues. "I swear I was living in an out of body experience when I ran home. I barely remember what happened. I don't even remember how I got home. I just remember getting beaten up, and then I found myself in the bathroom. I remember having a razor in my hand and then pressing it against my hip, but when I felt that pain, it's like I came back down to my body again. The scar hurt, but it was all I could focus on at the moment. It helped me forget what happened at school."

Louis sighs and rubs his nose against Harry's, pressing a light kiss against the edge of his lips. "I'm sorry, baby," he whispers, soon moving his arms around Harry's body to pull him in a tight hug. "I'm so fucking sorry that happened to you. People are shit."

Harry snorts under his breath and nuzzles against Louis' neck. "I'm okay, now," he reassures, smiling, sniffling so all traces of his tears can go away. "I'm happy here with you."

"I'm sorry I turned this morning so sad," Louis mutters on top of Harry's head, breathing out his nose as he pulls his head away to look at Harry. "How about I cheer you up with some tea and cereal?"

Harry giggles. "That sounds wonderful." 

Louis smiles and gives Harry a quick kiss to his lips before he's patting Harry's thigh to get him off. Harry rolls off of Louis and stands up next to the bed and offers his hand to Louis so he can pull him up. Once the two are standing, face to face, Harry wraps his arms around Louis' neck and pulls him flushed against his chest. They sway together for a couple of seconds, and then Harry is leaning forward to kiss Louis, slow and soft, humming when Louis' lips move perfectly against his own. Harry pulls away a moment later, and he grabs Louis' hand to walk them out the bedroom towards the kitchen. He takes a seat at the bar top while Louis sets up the kettle on the stove and then grabs two bowls from the cabinet. 

"What cereal you want?" Louis questions, already grabbing the Coco Puffs for himself. 

"Same as you," Harry answers with a smile. 

Louis rolls his eyes fondly, but he fills both bowls with the cereal. He gets the milk out and puts a good enough portion into each one before the kettle on the stove starts going off. Louis puts the bowls of cereal on top of the bar top, Harry grabbing his own, while Louis rushes to make their cups of tea. He soon joins Harry, taking a sip of tea and spooning cereal into his mouth. 

"My mum is wondering when you want to come over for dinner?" Harry asks after they eat their cereal in the silence, wiping his hand when milk dribbles down his chin. 

"Whenever is best. Any time after practice."

Harry hums thoughtfully. "Hey, I was thinking," he says after a moment, glancing nervously at Louis to gauge his reaction. " _Um_ \- since me and my mum have fixed our relationship, have you thought about maybe fixing the relationship with yours?"

"Honestly," Louis laughs, scratching the back of his head. "I have," he states truthfully. "My sisters have been texting me a lot more recently asking if I would just try to come home and talk to her. I never really thought much about it until me and you got together."

Harry smiles as he reaches over to grab Louis' hand. "I think it would be a great idea. My mum was asking me about your mother not too long ago, and I kind of told her that things were complicated right now. She was hoping that whatever it was could be fixable because she would love to meet her."

"I agree," Louis sighs, smiling as well. He laces his fingers with Harry's and brings their hands up to his mouth to press feathery like kisses to Harry's knuckles. "I'll let them know I plan to stop by. Would you like to come with me?"

Harry widens his eyes, surprised. "Really? You don't think it's like - you don't think it's too soon for that? I mean, you haven't seen her in years, Lou, I don't want to ruin anything."

"I met your mum, H," Louis reminds with a roll to his eyes, squeezing Harry's hand. "It's time you met mine. _Together_."

With a reluctant sigh, Harry agrees. "Fine," he mumbles, going back to his cereal. 

"So, have you thought about what Uni you want to go to? Isn't registration soon?" Louis then wonders, casually, randomly. Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion at the suddenness of the question. 

"I haven't really thought about it, honestly," Harry responds hesitantly, stirring his spoon in the milk. "I don't want to go to Uni. I actually want to go to -"

Louis interrupts Harry by lifting up a brochure out the pocket of his pants, the same brochure that his mother once saw and tore up. Harry's eyes widen as he reaches over to grab it, studying the front for a second before he's looking up at Louis confusedly. 

"How did you ... ?"

"London Institute of Photography," Louis recites, smiling. "Your mum said you wanted to go here."

Now, Harry rolls his eyes, lazily tossing the brochure on top of the counter. "Yeah, but she didn't want me to go there because it's too expensive."

"I think she had a change of heart," Louis suggest with a wink, watching as a whole wave of confusion and hope cross over Harry's features. "At your graduation, I talked to her and Robin about it, well, before I asked her about you traveling Europe with me, and she said if it's something you want to do, then she'll accept it."

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a choked sound. 

"I'm assuming you're in shock," Louis laughs, but he doesn't stop there. The next thing he's pulling out is an envelope, and Harry's widen even more comically when he reads the front of it. "We also may have enrolled your name."

Harry nearly spits. "Are you serious?" he gawks, ripping the envelop from Louis' hands to open it up and see that he's been accepted into the institution. When he reads over the letter, his lips stretch into a wide smile, and he nearly feels like crying in excitement when he reads all the course paths he can participate in. "I can't believe she did it. I can't believe she's letting me do this."

Louis has a proud smile of his own, and he's pulling Harry into a bone crushing hug. "Congrats, baby."

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 54 likes**

**HarryStyles:** Morning x

 **AnneStyles commented:** Beautiful boys. 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** The beauty is all Harry. x

**//**

Louis pulls his car up the driveway to his childhood home, a place he hasn't lived in since he was twelve years old. It's been such a long time since Louis has seen the inside. He knows what the outside looks like. He's seen it plenty of times whenever he would stop by to pick and drop his sisters off for their play dates, but the inside, he's been way to nervous to check. Louis' been too much of a coward any time he comes for his sisters to actually go inside after years of avoiding his mother so it makes it that much harder for him to accept that he's finally about to see Jay. Louis' tried to keep up with his mother through his sisters, and sometimes the new pieces of information are hard to hear, but he appreciates them for keeping him in the loop about what goes on in the Tomlinson household. 

"My sister said she's dating," Louis eventually mumbles, still in the driver's seat, not making any motion to move, clutching the steering wheel tightly. He swallows and continues. "Apparently his name is Dan Deakin, and he makes my mum happy. The twins love him."

Harry purses his lips and reaches over to grab Louis' hand, comforting him. "That's good," he whispers carefully. "She deserves to be happy again and to be loved. We can only hope Dan gives her both."

Louis sighs. "I know. It just sucks that she ever had to move on in the first place."

Harry gives Louis a small, comforting smile and leans over to press a kiss to Louis' cheek. He waits in his spot until Louis feels ready enough to get out, and it takes a couple more minutes before Louis' finally turning the car off and unbuckling his seat belt. Louis looks at Harry one last time, giving a small, hesitant smile before he's opening the car door. 

"Alright, let's go," he whispers. 

Harry and Louis get out the car together and meet up at the front of it. Louis' hand immediately seeks out Harry's, and he laces their fingers together so Louis has something to hold to keep him from freaking out. He doesn't even realize he has a death grip in Harry's hand until the two of them are standing at the front door. Harry lets out a sound and tries squeezing Louis' hand to let him know to loosen up just a little bit. Louis gives Harry a weak smile and releases his strong grip. 

"Louis, just breathe," Harry reminds, stepping close to press a kiss to Louis' neck. 

Louis laughs a little bit at his own nervousness, but he's agreeing with a simple nod. He turns back to the front door and spends the next few minutes taking Harry's advice in trying to breathe properly. It just, Louis is so nervous right now, and he has no idea how this reunion is going to go. Louis hopes that his mother will be happy to see him again, but there's also a small part of Louis that thinks his mother will resent him for leaving her alone when he was twelve. Like, Louis was only twelve years old when he practically decided to run away from home. He ran from his mother and hid out behind the challenges of football, and now Louis' scared to face all the repercussions that came from his decision. 

Fuck, Louis really hopes this goes well. 

Louis finally knocks once he feels strong enough to actually do so. He takes a step back so there's enough space between him and the door, and after a brief second where Harry and Louis are waiting on the front porch, Louis finally starts to hear the soft sounds of feet getting closer to the door. Louis takes another deep breath, and then the front door is being pulled open, unveiling a beautiful, middle-aged woman with soft blue eyes and short brown hair pulled into a bun. She steps into the doorway and gets a hitch in her throat at seeing Louis right there, her dainty hands coming up to cover her mouth in pure shock. 

"Louis?" she whispers, tears suddenly building up in her eyes. 

"Hi, mum."

Jay sobs, a happy one, and laughs as she walks from the front door to pull Louis into a hug. "Oh, Louis. I'm so happy you're here."

Louis smiles as he lets go of Harry's hand to wrap his arms around Jay. He squishes his face into the juncture of Jay's neck, and he's smiling like a fool as he gets a good whiff of his mother's scent, missing how much she smelt over the past couple of years that he finds himself starting to tear up as well. Fuck, he missed his mother, and he missed the natural floral smell that always surrounded her from the perfume she always uses. Louis closes his eyes and breathes more of her in before he's finally pulling back to wipe underneath his eyes, laughing when he catches his mother do the same. 

"This is certainly a wonderful surprise," Jay sighs, shaking her head and smiling widely, her eyes soon drifting over to Harry, brightening up even more. "Well, you must be the boy I see my son with all the time. Harry, right?"

"Yes, hello. I'm Harry Styles."

"And I'm Jay Tomlinson, or Johanna, but I prefer Jay."

After the greeting is over, Jay ushers them all inside the house. She already has a pot on the kettle brewing so she takes them to the kitchen where Harry and Louis sit down at the dining table. Jay pours them each a cup of tea and then walks over to join the boys. 

"So, Louis, how have you been doing? I've seen that you two have been living it up in Europe."

Louis brightens up instantly, hand sneaking under the table to place on top of Harry's thigh. "Things have been going great, if I'm being honest," he subtly looks at Harry, sharing a smile before lookin at his mum again. "And Europe was amazing. We did a lot of stuff whenever I wasn't playing."

"That sounds wonderful," Jay sighs, bringing the cup of tea to her mouth to take a sip. She sets the cup back down afterwards. "You seem happy."

Louis glances at Harry again. "He makes me happy." 

Harry flushes at the comment, and hides his face and his giggle into Louis' neck. Louis smirks and wraps his arm around Harry's back, laughing softly when Jay only seems to get happier. "That's wonderful, I'm happy for you, Lou," Jay admits, letting out a breath. "I've also seen you've been doing great with football. I know the girls love going out to watch some of the games."

"Yeah, speaking of them, where are they?" Louis wonders with a frown, pursing his lips as he turns around to look in the living area, like they would magically appear out of thin air. They don't, and Louis frowns. 

"They're upstairs," she informs, soon calling out their names and suddenly hearing them squeal. Then they hear loud feet stomping across the floor above before those same feet are tumbling down the steps. Jay starts laughing when her two daughters are now barging into the kitchen. 

"Louis!" The first one cheers, hair long and blonde, eyes a smokey color, and she's the first one who walks up behind Louis to give him a tight hug. 

"Hey, Lottie."

"Oh my gosh," the next sister nearly squeals, walking right up to Harry with wide eyes and fingers going straight to his curls. "Those accounts on Twitter were right. Your boyfriend is _cute_."

"Fizzy, stop bothering him," Louis scolds, but Harry just giggles. 

"His hair is so curly," Fizzy continues, pulling on one specific curl and stretching it out to see how long it really it. She gasps. 

"What accounts are you talking about?" Harry then wonders, remaining perfectly kept with Fizzy messing with his hair. He even smiles when she starts brushing through it. 

"Oh, there are so many Louis accounts on Twitter," Lottie answers this time. She takes the seat next to Louis and smiles proudly at Harry. "There are even some accounts dedicated to you two. Your couple name is _Larry Stylinson_."

"Our couple name is who?" Louis frowns. 

"One account even said Louis won the MVP award for England," Fizzy tacks on. 

Jay awes. "I remember seeing that one," she remembers, looking at Louis proudly. "Congrats, Lou."

Louis rolls his eyes. "For some reason, Twitter always hears the news before anything else."

"Yeah," Lottie agrees. "I'm pretty sure Twitter knew you and Harry were dating before you knew you and Harry were dating."

Harry laughs. "I had no idea there were accounts like that on Twitter."

"Oh, yes," Fizzy claps. She finally removes her hands from Harry's hair and takes the seat next to Harry. "Twitter has a twenty four hour surveillance on all things Louis Tomlinson. They track every thing he does, especially when it involves his hot new boyfriend."

"Harry, do you have a Twitter?" Lottie then wonders, already pulling her phone out her pocket to check. 

"No," Louis responds for him. "He doesn't need one either."

"Oh, don't be such a sour puss." Lottie rolls her eyes, but with a scolding look from Jay, she gets lightly slapped on her arm. 

"I don't really care for social media all that much," Harry admits when he notices Louis is about to make a snarky remark towards Lottie. He laughs at the look on Louis' face and eases him by leaning into his side. "I do Instagram, and that's about it."

Fizzy groans. "I think you should make one."

"Yeah," Lottie agrees. "Then you and Louis can be even more cute there."

With a huff, Jay rolls his eyes. "Girls, stop bothering them."

"We are a delight," Lottie reminds. 

Lottie looks up at Harry and gives him a wink before she's looking down at her phone again. She begins pressing random things on the screen and typing randomly so when Louis bends over to watch what she is doing, he sees that she's creating a new account on Twitter. He rolls his eyes and slumps back in his chair, glancing at Harry and shaking his head. 

"Okay, perfect," Lottie announces after a second. She hands her phone over to Harry and smiles when Harry starts to look over his new profile. 

"I'm not sure how to work this," Harry mumbles. 

"Hey, Lou, lemme see your phone," Fizzy then demands, stretching out her hand and expectedly waiting for Louis to hand her the device. With a hesitant look, Louis gives it to her, unlocked. Once Fizzy has the phone, she turns towards Harry to help him out. "Okay, look. You can search whoever you want with this thing. So search for Louis and then follow him." Harry does as told. "There, Louis followed you back."

"Thanks, Lou," Harry smiles, and Louis rolls his eyes. 

"Okay, now with this, you can create a tweet."

"A tweet?" Harry frowns. 

"Yeah, you can post pictures, tweet whatever you're feeling, retweet other people's post, or even like them. You can respond to things, and you can see what's trending."

"Interesting," Harry hums. 

"I know, right?" Fizzy practically preens, now pressing the tweet button on Louis' account and typing something out. Louis pinches his eyebrows together and leans forward to watch what she's doing. Even Harry looks over Fizzy's shoulder to watch, and when she presses the post button, there's a ping on Lottie's phone where Harry's account is still pulled up. "I just tweeted you."

Harry raises his eyebrow and looks down at the screen. 

**@LouisTomlinson tweeted:** _Welcome to the twitter world_ _ **@HarryStyles** _

"Now you need to respond," Fizzy informs, turning her body towards Harry and helping him type up something. 

**@HarryStyles replied: _@LouisTomlinson_** _I think I like your sisters a little bit more than you._

Louis rolls his eyes when he sees what Fizzy typed for Harry and reaches to grab his phone again. "Are you guys finished?"

"One second," Fizzy responds. She grabs Lottie's phone and begins pulling up all their twitter accounts to make Harry follow them. Once she finishes, Fizzy gives Lottie her phone back and is then relaxing in her chair, proudly looking at Louis like she accomplished something amazing. 

"Well, Louis, looks like I am officially a Twitter-er now."

Louis' annoyed stature immediately softens to fondness. "You're cute," he easily says, kissing Harry's jaw. 

After awhile of all of them talking and catching up, they hear the garage opening up. Louis briefly pauses in wondering who it is that could be coming home in the evening time. His questions are then answered when the side door opens up and a male voice is ringing through the house, greeting everyone who is supposedly living there. Louis feels his muscles tense when Lottie and Fizzy are rushing out the kitchen to go greet the man, and before Louis has a chance to freak out or ask any questions, Jay is reaching across the table to gently hold Louis' hand. 

"His name is Dan, and he makes me happy, too," she whispers softly, thumb running across the back of Louis' hand. "You should meet him. The girls love him."

Louis finds himself finally easing up. "Yeah," he swallows, nodding. "I'd love to meet him."

Jay smiles and then turns to Harry. "You should meet him too. You'll both like him. He's great."

As if on cue, Dan is walking into the kitchen with a bright smile on his face. Jay looks up when she sees him come in, and she's pushing herself out of the chair to stand up and join him at the entry way to the kitchen. "Hi, love," Jay greets, wrapping Dan in a hug. When they pull apart, her bright smile is now being directed to the table where Harry and Louis are still sitting. "Dan, I have someone here I want you to meet."

Louis takes in a deep breath, and then he is standing up, walking over to Jay and Dan to greet himself. "Hi, Dan. I'm Louis."

"My son," Jay clarifies proudly, biting her lip as she watches Dan and Louis shake hands. 

"It's nice to finally meet you," Dan replies, nodding his head. "I've heard wonderful things from all the ladies here."

"Same about you," Louis smiles. He then remembers he has Harry here with him so he quickly turns towards the boy and holds his hand out for him. Harry smiles and stands up from the chair to walk over and join them, easily tucking himself in Louis' side. "This is Harry. He's my boyfriend."

"I've also heard a lot about you as well," Dan admits with a laugh, shaking Harry's hand. "Mainly from the twins, but Lotts and Fizz like to talk about all the pictures that get posted of the two of you."

"Oh, gosh," Louis groans. 

"Come on, let's go sit down," Jay suggest after spending time standing up. The three of them walk over to the table and all take a seat. 

They spend the next hour simply talking, mainly Louis and Dan trying to get to know each other while Jay spends her time getting to know Harry. Then it approaches dinner time, and Jay has to excuse herself so she can start preparing a meal. Dan, Louis, and Harry end up moving their chat session to the living room where Fizzy and Lottie join. Dan and Louis continue to talk, but Harry gets distracted playing random games with the girls, and then when Phoebe and Daisy come home from a play date, they quickly join in on keeping Harry pre occupied. Louis ends up learning a lot about Dan during their talk. Dan and Jay have actually been together for about four years, and Dan feels ready to take the next step with Louis' mother in getting married, but the reason he hasn't pursued anything is because he wanted Louis' approval. Of course, at this information, Louis became happy, and he easily gave his blessing for Dan and his mother. 

It's safe to say Louis had a great day reuniting with his family, and he's more than happy that Harry was right there next to him the whole time.

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**HarryStyles commented:** _Y_ _ou're my favorite! (:_

 **LottieTommo commented:** _currently dying from cuteness._

//

_After the long debate over who will be fit to replace John Terry as Chelsea's captain, Tomlinson is in the running. Since spending three years in the premier league, Tomlinson has proved his strength on the field by scoring some of the most goals in Chelsea's program. Ideally, Tomlinson seems like the right person to become the captain, but will his bad rep and poor media coverage keep him from becoming the best?_

_Stay tuned to see the new Team Captain announcement before Chelsea's firs league game._

//

The article is released after Chelsea's first regular season practice. The trade for John Terry had been kept quiet for months so after practice was held, Coach had a press conference to explain the situation to the news. Overall, Coach congratulated John Terry's successful career with the Chelsea program and then addressed that he is still figuring out which player on the current team will be the best replacement as a captain. The press has been all over Stamford Bridge leading up to the press conference, and more often than not, they've been all over Louis as well. It's the most Louis has felt in the spotlight, and he constantly has press and paparazzi following his every move just trying to get answers if he's going to be the new captain or not. 

Honestly, Louis has no idea. Coach has hinted it plenty of times last season, but he's never had a solid answer so really, the captain debate has been up in the air for over a year. 

After the press conference is over, Louis feels like it's safe enough for him to finally walk out the stadium without having anyone bother him. He makes it about halfway through the car park when he hears someone jogging up next to him. Louis turns his head to see that it's Stan. 

"So, future captain," he greets happily, patting Louis' shoulder. "Shall we go get drinks to celebrate your new title?"

Louis smiles at the comment, but when he checks the time on his watch, he realizes he's almost late. "Nah, mate," he turns Stan down, stopping at his car door and turning to face Stan with an apologetic smile. "I'm supposed to meet up with Harry."

"Mate, are you fucking serious?" Stan then growls, rolling his eyes with a loud, obnoxious huff. "Why are you still with fucking virgin, Louis? There's so many better fucking people out there for you, and you decide to be with a guy who's a puss -" Stan doesn't get to finish when Louis crowds up against him to press his forearm on Stan's throat, effectively shutting him up. 

"If I were you, I'd be _very_ careful with your next few words."

There's a surge of anger that ignites inside of Louis, and he feels every ounce of blood in his body boiling up. He's just about ready to rear his fist back and send a hard blow to the side of Stan's chin, but Stan gets saved when Liam comes sprinting across the car park to intervene his body in between both the boys. 

"Hey, what's going on?" Liam questions urgently, pressing his hands on both Stan and Louis' chest to keep them apart somehow.

Louis growls and tries to jump forward again, but Liam's hold keeps him steady. "He's talking shit about Harry."

"Okay, Lou, okay," Liam eases slowly, calmly. He removes his hand from Louis chest so he can be free, but he remains in between their bodies just incase. "Look, you go on ahead and meet up with Harry. Let me deal with Stan."

Stan snorts in response, but Liam silences him with an annoyed look. 

Louis finally relaxes with a steady breath, and he takes a step away from Liam and Stan. He remains in his spot while Liam drags Stan off to the side so he can do whatever it is that Liam does - which happens to be properly scolding people. Louis smirks at the two of them, mainly at Stan who's getting bitched at, and then he's finally entering his vehicle to drive away. He knew Liam and Zayn will be heading over to Harry's as well once they're finished with whatever. Niall is already there, and he's the one who invited Zayn, and since Liam is Robin's nephew, Harry wants to get to know him more so tonight really is supposed to be a proper hang out. By the time Louis is pulling up the curb to Harry's house, he decides to wait a little while for Liam and Zayn to pull up. He can see from the window of Harry's home that Harry and Niall are already in the living room. Niall is laying on the ground, lazily tossing a ball in the air, and Harry is hanging over the top of the couch with his legs in the air and his head towards the ground.

"So, you want to watch Love Actually?" Niall questions. 

"Nope. I saw it yesterday."

"Okay, the Notebook?"

"Yesterday, as well."

"Okay well damn. _Um_ \- Pizza?"

Harry cocks his head at the random question and lifts his head up a little, feeling some of the blood finally draining down his body. He gets a little dizzy from it so he tries maneuvering his body around until he's properly laying on the couch. "Niall, we just ate food," Harry reminds, lazily tossing a throw pillow at Niall. 

"So?" Niall huffs. The pillow lands on his face, and he refuses to remove it. "You won't pick a movie, and you're being picky so the only thing I can think of is food."

Harry groans and rolls off the couch, letting himself plop on the floor. "Fine," he mutters, rolling on to his stomach and resting his head on his arms. "We can watch Princess Diaries."

"Seriously?" Niall whines, now removing the pillow from his face so he can chunk it at Harry's butt, but with his free hand, he's already dialing the pizza place. Before Harry has a chance to scold him for throwing a pillow at him, Niall is already ordering food. He even has a bright smile on his face that shows pure joy, and Harry finds himself giggling because Niall always gets this look on his face anytime food is involved. 

While Niall orders, Harry hears a knock on his front door before it's opening up and Louis, Zayn and Liam are walking through. 

"Honey, I'm here," Louis greets. 

"So am I," Zayn announces after. 

"And I," Liam adds. 

Harry smiles and picks himself off the floor when Louis walks straight to where he is. By the time Harry is on his feet, Louis is wrapping his arms around Harry's waist and pulling him in close to his body. Louis turns around and brings the both of them down on the couch, smiling like a fool when a loud squeal belts out of Harry before he's completely melting in Louis' arms. 

"Hello," Louis finally greets privately, pressing a kiss to Harry's lips. 

Harry smiles and kisses him again, and then again, and then again. "I'm glad you're here."

"Good," Louis winks, already leaning back in. "Because I want more kisses."

Harry tilts his head, briefly widening his eyes before blinking them close and pressing his lips against Louis'. Louis hums the instance their mouths start to twist together, and the fingers he has pressing against Harry's back begin to curl into his shirt as he pulls the boy closer to himself. Harry's legs are tangled on top of Louis', and although he's a long mess of limbs, he still somehow finds a way to make himself smaller so he can properly fit on top of Louis. His body naturally curls into Louis', and his hands are wrapped around Louis' neck so possibly every part of their bodies can touch. 

It isn't until there's someone clearing their throat before Harry and Louis realize they've gone off on kissing. Harry has to pull back with a giggle, but he doesn't bother looking away from Louis' eyes. 

"Harry, are you sure you fit in Louis' lap?" Zayn questions, evidently being the one who cleared his throat. He is now sitting next to Liam on the adjacent couch, and Niall is still lying back on the floor, not bothering to look over at the two boys tangled on the couch kissing. 

Harry scoffs, offended, and is about to make a move out of Louis lap, but Louis just holds on to him tighter. 

"Leave my cuddle bug alone," Louis defends, and Harry turns to all them and sticks his tongue out. 

Zayn rolls his eyes and turns back to Liam, sharing a look with him. Niall ends up finishing his order shortly after, and he lazily tosses his phone on the empty recliner before he's crawling over to the television to put in the movie that Harry wanted to watch. 

"Hey, lads," Niall greets, pressing play on the device. "I just ordered pizza."

"Perfect," Liam claps.

"Yeah, and it looks like you're putting in Princess Diaries," Zayn notes once the movie title appears on the screen, a confused tilt to his voice as he briefly glances at Harry because he just somehow knows it was his choice. 

"This movie is great," Liam notes a little too excitedly, now having Zayn eye's snap in his direction. Liam raises his eyebrows and stutters. "I mean," he shrugs. "It's whatever."

Louis rolls his eyes at the two of them and turns his attention back to Harry, squeezing him tighter to his chest. "Did you pick this movie because you're secretly a princess?"

Harry giggles as he swats at Louis playfully. "No, I am not."

"I want to kiss you, princess," Louis hums quietly, lips pressing against Harry's ear, soon trailing down the column of his neck and pressing kisses there. 

"Lou, there's people here."

Louis groans. "So let's go somewhere where there's not people."

Harry sighs dramatically and turns his head to see that the movie is just now beginning, but Liam, Zayn and Niall aren't even paying attention to them so ultimately, they could sneak off to go make out. It's been a few days since the two of them gotten some alone time. Since Chelsea had started practice again, Louis has been super focused on that. Harry got to see Louis a little bit when he took some pictures of the workouts, but other than that, Louis has been too exhausted to do anything so his days have consisted of a constant cycle of wake up, eat, practice, eat, shower, sleep.

Harry ends up pulling Louis off the couch and sneaking them into the back study room by the stairs, and when they walk inside, Louis is immediately pushing Harry down on the couch and falling on top of him. 

"Now _this_ is perfect."

Harry spreads his legs a little so Louis can fit comfortably in between them. Louis keeps his hands planted on the cushion on either side of Harry's head so he's not completely crushing the boy underneath him, but they're still flushed together from their chest down to their toes. Harry smiles as he wraps his arms around Louis' neck to bring him down closer, his lips already seeking Louis' out in a much needed kiss, one that happens to be a lot dirtier than the one they shared in the living room. Harry's practically mewling at the anticipation of getting to taste Louis on the tip of his tongue, and Harry's never wanted to kiss as badly as he does right now so with a lot of eagerness, Harry presses his lips, and just keeps pressing, pressing, pressing until Louis finally gets a clue and starts licking his way into Harry's mouth. 

"Fuck, I missed you," Louis says in between kisses, humming when Harry whines for more. "I miss kissing you like this," he adds before his tongue is sneaking past Harry's lips again. 

The kiss starts heating up the longer their pressing together on the small couch, and Harry finds himself wrapping his legs around Louis' waist to get them impossibly closer. Harry moans when their groins crash together, causing Harry to subtly buck his hips up for more the same time Louis starts grinding his hips down. Harry's fingers begin gripping on tightly to Louis' hair, breathing heavily in to Louis' mouth before there's more kissing going on. The room is getting hot, and the air is being filled with loud sounds of lips smacking together, and the couch doesn't seem big enough for both their bodies, but Harry sure feels like he's about to melt into the cushions with the way Louis' hips are rubbing in to his own. Louis' hands that are planted on either side of Harry's head end up sneaking underneath his body until Louis is properly holding on to Harry's back. He lifts Harry up a little and starts to trail his lips to the side of Harry's face before he's kissing down Harry's neck and stopping at where Harry's shoulder is exposed from the slip of his shirt, and he begins sucking on the skin there. 

"Oh, gosh," Harry moans, bucking his hips up again and tightening his legs around Louis' waist, fingers digging into Louis' shoulders where he's gripping on tightly. 

Louis presses a kiss to where there's a growing mark on Harry's skin before he lifts his face away. "Are you good?" Louis wonders, feeling a twitch underneath his body. 

With his eyes still closed, Harry hums, a lazy smile stretching his lips. 

"Are you sure you're good?" Louis questions again. He removes a hand from Harry's back and goes to wipe the sweat forming at Harry's forehead, smiling when Harry finally opens his eyes. There's a confused tilt to his brow, and Louis lifts his hips up so he can look in between their bodies, tilting his head. "Your _uh_ \- your cock is coming to life."

Harry's eyes widen horrifically, and he quickly scrambles to a sitting position, accidentally knocking Louis off to the ground. "Shit," he grumbles, grabbing the closest blanket to cover himself up before looking at where Louis is groaning from the impact of the fall. "I'm sorry. So sorry, wow, I _uh -_ " Harry shuts himself up by grimacing. 

"It's okay, H," Louis sighs, sitting up on his knees and looking at Harry sincerely. "It's just a fall," he eases, rubbing his temples because his head hurts just a little. He starts to giggle, randomly, and looks down at Harry's lap again. "You know, I can take care of that for you."

Harry huffs. "That's okay," he brushes aside, blinking his eyes away from Louis and trying his best to _not_ to get embarrassed about this, but he already feels his cheeks heating up. 

"That's fine," Louis swallows, awkwardly. 

Harry hums and looks down at Louis, finally, and sees that he has a bulge of his own forming. "What about you?"

"I can do it myself. Unless, you want to?"

Harry flushes some more. "Not yet," he responds embarrassed. 

"Hey," Louis eases softly, raising up on his knees to cup Harry's cheek. "It's okay, you know that right? We'll get there. No pressure."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Louis leans in to give Harry a very gentle kiss and pulls back with a smile. "Now, let's go back to watch the movie."

The two of them straighten up and head back out to the living room to see a good portion of the movie already played. They sneak back to their previous spot on the couch and cuddle up with one another without having the other boys even glance their way. Either they didn't notice the two of them snuck off to make out, or they just didn't want to bother acknowledging them, but Harry and Louis didn't mind. They end up relaxing against the cushions and enjoying the whole movie until Anne is walking through the front door an hour later. She smiles when she sees everybody in her living room. 

"Well, hello everyone," she greets, eyeballing the half eaten box of pizza on the coffee table. She ends up walking to it to steal a piece, smiling when Niall playfully glares at her. 

"Hi, mum," Harry calls out. He's still tucked against Louis' side, but he arches his head back so he can watch his mother walk behind the couch to greet him with a kiss on his head. 

"What have you done?"

"We just finished Princess Diaries," Niall responds for Harry, winking when Harry straightens his head to glare. "Per Harry's choice."

"We also ordered pizza," Liam adds in. He actually gets up from the couch and walks over to Anne, giving her a hug before grabbing his keys off the end table. 

"Sounds wonderful," Anne sighs. She turns to where Zayn is now getting up as well. "Hello, I'm Anne."

"I'm Zayn," he greets in return, shaking Anne's hand before joining Liam at the door. "I work with Louis, but I'm also good friends with Niall and Liam."

Anne smiles warmly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, it's nice to finally meet you as well," Zayn offers sweetly. "We're actually about to head out, but I'm glad I got to see you before we left."

Niall groans but he stands up on his feet as well. "Yeah, my mum is almost done with dinner."

"Didn't you just have pizza?" Anne questions with a raised eyebrow. 

"You know I can never pass up on food," Niall reasons with. He walks up to Anne and presses a kiss to her cheek before he's walking past Harry to ruffle his hair. "I'll see you guys later."

Niall, Liam and Zayn walk out the front door with a chorus of goodbyes running around. Harry and Louis remain seated on the couch while Anne goes to sit on the other one. Once the three of them are alone in the living room, Anne gets herself comfortable on the cushions and angles her body towards the two boys. 

"So, Louis. I heard about the press conference today. Any news on the captain status?"

Louis sighs, unconsciously yanking Harry closer to his body. "Not entirely sure. The coach thinks he'll make the announcement by our first game. He wants it to be a surprise for everyone, even the future captain."

"Well, I have my fingers crossed for you."

"Me, too," Harry agrees, showing off by raising his crossed fingers in front of Louis. Louis smiles and kisses those fingers. 

"So, Louis," Anne continues. "Harry told me you went and visited your mum. How was it?"

Louis instantly brightens up at the memory of his visit. "It was amazing. We all had a great time, and she loved Harry and can't wait to meet you."

"That's wonderful, Louis," Anne sighs in relief, pressing a hand to her heart. 

"Hey, mum," Harry soon calls out, a little excitedly. "I got the letter about the Photography Institution, and I wanted to thank you for letting me do this. It means a lot to me."

Anne opens her mouth to make a comment, looking genuinely confused for a moment, but before she could voice _anything_ , Louis is interrupting by detangling himself from Harry and standing to his feet. "I think it's about time I head out."

Harry pouts. "Really?" he complains, groaning when Louis reluctantly nods. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," Harry repeats. He stands up as well and gives Louis a hug and kiss before he's stepping away to let Louis head out. 

As Louis begins walking towards the front door, Harry starts picking up the pizza boxes and taking them into the kitchen to be thrown away. Anne is left in the living room, but before Louis is walking out the house, she gets up and quickly rushes to his side, trying to remain quiet as she asks, "You did it?"

Louis briefly glances towards the kitchen and nods. "Don't worry, Anne," he reassures. "I'll take care of Harry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do we like these quick updates? I'm not sure why this story has been inspiring me so much, but it has.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so we are starting to dive into the chapters where Louis likes to purchase things for Harry. In the past, Harry may have come across as too ungrateful, but that is not my intention at all. Harry is very grateful that Louis will buy whatever he wants, but he's also not used to having someone spend money all this money on him so most of the time, he's confused and stressed out about it. Of course, as Harry's character grows, he learns that no matter what, Louis will just spend money on him like there's no tomorrow. It takes awhile before Harry accepts it, but just know that at the start, Harry is very hesitant about everything. Their relationship is fairly new.

"You got your bag?"

"Check."

"Writing utensils."

"Check."

"Your digital camera with uh - _the fuck ?_ Manual ... exposure ... mode?"

"Check."

"Okay, a kiss?"

Harry rolls his eyes, slightly annoyed - because when does Louis not annoy him - but he walks forward to press a kiss to Louis' awaiting lips. Louis giggles into the kiss as he wraps his arms tightly around Harry's waist, humming when Harry easily slumps forward against his chest. 

And well, today is the day. Today is officially the first day Harry goes to London Institute of Photography, and _Louis_ is the one who is a complete mess. If anyone were to ask Harry how he's feeling right now, he would say he's fine, _great_ even. He isn't worried or nervous one bit, but if someone were to ask Louis how he's doing, he would probably say he needs a drink, or a nap. Louis had stayed up the night before scrambling around his entire flat just to make sure Harry had absolutely _everything_ ready for his first day of school - which, Harry had to remind him it's not really _school_. It's more like photography lessons, and Louis really had no reason to be a nervous mess. For gods sake, he isn't even the one going there, Harry is, and Harry has no ounce of worry inside of him. 

"Now, picture?" Louis then asks, a cheeky smile as he holds his phone up for clarification. 

Harry huffs, shoulders slouching, and he ends up having to take a step to the side so the people walking on the sidewalk don't run into him. He rolls his eyes. "Louis," he whines 

"Just smile, baby." 

As told, Harry fakes a smile and throws the peace sign up. He waits until Louis takes the picture and is then deflating, arms going down to his side and making a face at Louis' sudden enthusiasm. 

"Okay, are you happy now?" Harry sasses. 

Louis dismisses the tone and begins nodding his head erratically. He doesn't even look up from his phone as he begins walking closer to Harry to wrap his arms around his body again, his eyes are too focused on the cute picture of Harry he just took. Harry frowns and playfully swats at his chest, wanting Louis' eyes to be on him rather than virtual image of him. Louis immediately pockets his phone and puts all his devoted attention to Harry now. 

"Of course I'm happy. I now have a really cute picture of my boyfriend saved in my phone, and I might just make it my lock screen."

Harry groans. "You're so cheesy."

"And you're so cute," Louis replies with a smile, wiping the disgusted, playfully disgusted, look off Harry's face by leaning in to kiss his lips, replacing the frown into a bright smile. "Now go off to your hipster school and be all hipster with your photos."

Harry snorts as he gives Louis one more kiss before he's turning out of Louis' hold to head towards the garage, but he stops in his tracks when he sees Louis' newest purchase, a Range Rover, parked right alongside the curb. Harry tilts his head, confused, and turns back to Louis. 

"What's going on?" he questions right away, hesitantly, eyes dancing back and forth between the vehicle and Louis' smiling self. 

"It's my car," Louis responds, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, even tossing his keys in Harry's direction. "Duh," he adds on, just because.

"I see that."

Harry remains in his spot as Louis walks past him to open the drivers side of the door. "Yeah, and you better get your scrawny ass in here before you're late for your first day.

"Louis," Harry whines again, but Louis ignores his complaints by grabbing Harry's arm and practically shoving him in the driver's side. Once he makes sure all of Harry's limbs are properly in the car, he slams the door shut. "Just drive it. No complaining. A hipster student deserves a hipster car."

"I'm not taking this -"

"Just drive it," Louis urges again. "Bye, sweetie. I'll see you later."

Louis steps back from the curb and blows an obnoxious kiss in Harry's direction. Harry tries to remain looking annoyed, but as sweet as Louis is being, his cheeks easily betray him. Harry starts blushing, and then he's smiling, and then he's giggling when Louis starts waving at him while he slowly backs away into front office of the apartment complex. Harry shakes his head and just accepts that there is no way out of avoiding this car. He had a feeling when Louis bought it that he intended for Harry to drive it most of the time, and for weeks, Harry has been anticipating when the moment would come. Well, the moment is here, and he is now stuck driving Louis' Range Rover before Louis' ever driven it himself.

Harry sighs because _Louis, Louis, Louis._

Louis Tomlinson is really something else. 

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** Hipster Boy. 

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**HarryStyles commented:** You're so embarrassing Lou ):

 **LouisTomlinson replied:** You're so gorgeous 

//

It takes Harry nearly an hour to get to the Institution from Louis' place. Since his first session is in the morning, he leaves at a time where the morning rush of traffic is at its peak. It didn't really bother him though because while Harry had to sit bumper to bumper for ten minutes on his journey to the Photography school, he got to explore all the really cool features that came with the car. So really, Harry had nothing to complain about. If anything, it was a nice drive. The Range Rover is smooth. It has leather seats. The vents work great, and the sound system is amazing.

Harry pulls up to the building shortly after eight, and he finds the closest parking spot there is. He still has half an hour before he has to make it to his first class so he decides to sit in the car for a little while longer so he can admire how amazing the Photography Institution looks. First off, the building is shaped in a perfect square, and it's covered with windows that show the reflection of everything surrounding the place. There's a giant statue in the middle of the entry way, a perfectly sculpted photography camera resting at the tip of a stone water fountain that has water flowing from the lens. It's so freaking cool, and Harry finds himself awing at the place for a good ten minutes before he realizes that he should probably get out and become familiar with the inside of the place. So Harry grabs his camera sack from the passenger seat of the car and finally steps out of his vehicle. He then shoulders his bag tightly around his arm and walks slowly to the front entrance, getting more excited the closer he gets to actually walking inside the building. 

And then once Harry is there, now standing right at the double doors, he takes in a long, steady breath before he's finally pushing the doors open to walk inside. 

Harry is damn near speechless once he is finally standing inside the Photography Institution. He's never been in a place like this before, at most, he's been to a gallery viewing, but an actual place where Photography is taught, he's never experienced it. So when he sees how grand and elegant everything looks, it takes his breath away. The front entry way of the building has windows on every inch of the wall so Harry can see everything outside where he is standing. The floors are covered in a beautiful, white marble that goes perfectly with the geometric black and white walls that are in the hallways further back. THere's a reception desk in the middle of the area with a water fountain wall behind it and a glass chandelier right above. The marble on the counter of the desk matches the marble on the ground Harry is currently standing on, and the women who is working behind the computer has a welcoming, non-judging smile on her face. To the left and right of the entry way, there are two seating sections. Each area has four black couches all circling a center coffee table, and Harry sees a couple other students lounging around there either reading something or looking at their camera. 

Harry continues to walk further into the place until he's behind the reception area where the hallways are. He takes a minute to pause and look at all the pictures that are hung on the wall because many of them are students who have been successful at this school. Some photographers he even recognizes because they've gone off and accepted big time jobs that originally stemmed from this place. Some of the other photos that are hung are award winning pictures that other students have taken, and Harry starts dreaming of the day where he can one day be placed up on the wall amongst the other successful photographers who have gone here. 

Wow, Harry truly is speechless, and breathless, and slightly confused because he has no idea _in hell_ how his mother could afford a place like this. Harry even remembers his mother complaining how expensive it was, but maybe she was able to ask Robin for help or pull out the money from somewhere else. Either way, Harry is so happy he is here. 

Harry continues down the hallway looking for the designated door where his class is supposed to be. Since Harry is new to this school, he has to take the beginners course if he plans to take any further advanced courses. Which is perfect because Harry feels like his knowledge about photography is probably just above beginner. So mainly, this course should be a big review for him. As Harry continues walking, he passes by a lot of other students who are heading to their own classes, and when each student passes Harry, they give him a smile. Every smile Harry receives is welcoming, and there are some who add a greeting to their smile, and Harry's never felt more in his element than he did right now. He loves it. He loves how everyone here is just like him. No one is judging the way he's dressed. No one is judging that he loves photography. The main thing is that _no one_ is judging. They are all happy and friendly and nice, and has Harry mentioned that he loves it here? 

Harry is turning the corner on to a different hallway when his bubble gets bursted from crashing into another body. Right when Harry thinks he's found a place he can fit in and not get made fun of, his clumsiness ends up getting the best of him. Harry gasps when their bodies collide, and he begins apologizing like a maniac when the person he crashes in to drops all the folders he was holding. Harry curses under his breath and quickly helps the stranger pick everything up. 

"I'm so sorry," the stranger says, and Harry's body instantly stops when he recognizes that voice from anywhere. 

"Jake?"

The stranger straightens up, and just like Harry suspected, he sees Jake.

"Harry?" Jake cheers happily, laughing a little as he grabs some of the folders Harry picked up for him. His entire demeanor just brightens up now seeing that the person who bumped into him was Harry, and Harry tries his hardest to not show his discomfort with how strange of a person Jake really is. 

He thinks he succeeded when Jake pulls him into a hug, like they were ever friends. 

"I had no idea you enrolled here." 

Harry shrugs his shoulders. "Yeah, I'm doing the professional photography course."

It's a great course that Harry did extensive research on. It's supposed to be a four month course where Harry builds up his photography skills so he can one day make a full career out of it. He takes classes five days a week for four hours a day, and he does outside homework by taking pictures of what he wants and using it as his pieces to turn in. The course is compromised of fifteen skill modules, professional guest speakers, group reviews, and photography sessions. The professional photography course is designed on developing the knowledge and skills that are required at the professional level, and Harry's hoping that within his time at this institution, he'll be able to enter some of his work at the yearly exhibition where he can auction his pieces off. 

"That's great, Harry," Jake responds brightly. Instead of leaving Harry alone, he begins walking with the boy down the hallway, and as much as Harry would like to find his first class alone, he's just too nice to shoo Jake away. "I just finished that course over the summer," Jake admits, being the one to continue the conversation. "I have an internship with some magazine company, and they wanted me to be familiar with the camera."

"That's pretty cool," Harry grumbles. 

"Right?" Jake swoons. "Yeah, I'm just now starting to learn how to write reviews and critiques, and they offer some practice here, so that's what I'm doing now."

Harry hums, distracted. "That's great."

Harry's thankful when he sees the door he needs to go to come up on the left. He tries to somehow shake Jake off by stopping and acting like he's about to go into the room, but then Jake is leaning up against the wall to prevent Harry from actually going through. Harry sighs and ends up leaning against the wall as well. If he's going to be forced to talk to Jake, the he might as well get comfortable doing so. He only hopes Jake will stop getting closer and closer to him. Harry can only handle so much closeness from Jake before he feels the need to like run away, but it seems no matter how close or far Jake really is from him, Harry feels suffocated by him. It's like he can feel Jake everywhere surrounding him, and it's starting to make him feel slightly nauseous. Jake's eyes are looking him up and down, evidently checking Harry out like he's some piece of meat Jake can just blatantly stare at. Harry's lucky he wore jeans today otherwise he knows Jake would most likely be salivating at the mouth from how long Harry's legs are. He' sworn he's seen Jake do it before. Louis does it all the time, and Jake has an obvious _thing_ for Harry, so who's to say Jake wouldn't do the same thing.

Harry is wearing so much clothes right now, yet, this is the most exposed he's ever felt in his life. All because Jake can't keep his wandering eyes to himself.

"So I was wondering," Jake eventually says, finally looking Harry in the eyes again. "Did you want to get some lunch one day and maybe catch up?"

 _Fuck no_ , Harry thinks. 

"Sure," he ends up saying, cringing at his own traitorous mouth.

Harry wanted to say no. He wants to turn down anything that has to do with Jake, but he cannot. Harry is too nice, and Jake is Niall's good friend. There is no way Harry could ever be mean to him when all Jake has done is be sweet to him. Maybe _too_ sweet at certain times, but in all honesty, Jake doesn't really deserve any rudeness. So, great. Harry has a lunch date with Jake, and for some reason, he doesn't think this is something Jake will ever forget. 

"I have to get to class. It starts in a few minutes," Harry admits, finally. He feels a big breath of air pass through his lungs when he can finally find a way to avoid anymore conversation with Jake. Jake even backs away from the door and opens it up for the boy to let him go through. 

They don't say anything else afterwards. Jake continues walking down the hallway to where ever it is he needs to go, and Harry steps foot inside his classroom to take a spot in any open desk. He feels so much relief now that he is alone and can focus on his photography skills. There's not a lot of students in the class when he gets in, but the ones who are there look welcoming and happy to see a new student walking in. Harry smiles at a few of them and ends up taking the desk at the front, feeling comfortable in knowing that there are other eager students there as well who like sitting close to the teacher. 

Harry begins pulling out a pad and pencil about the same time the instructor walks in when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He still has about a minute until the actual course begins so he quickly pulls his mobile from his pants and reads who messaged him. 

It's Louis. 

_Hello my princess (; have a great day being a_ _hipster_

Harry shakes his head and begins typing out his response, smiling like a fool and giggling under his breath because Louis sure does know how to make his day so much better. 

_I'll only have a great day if you stop calling me a hipster (: xx_

Louis responds almost immediately. 

_i call it like i see it hipstaaa x_

Harry rolls his eyes and ends up having to put his phone away because the course instructor explains what the beginners course is mainly composed of. Overall, the first couple of days they will be learning every single feature that the new deluxe camera contains. They will familiarize themselves with all the settings the camera has and whens the best time and place to use them. They even spend some time testing out their photo skills by going out into the courtyard of the building to take practice shots with their camera. The day is quick, and most of the stuff Harry learned was a review. 

After Harry finishes his course for the day, he plans to meet with his mother for lunch before they head over to Stamford Bridge for the game. Matt told Harry that he isn't needed to take pictures for awhile, and since the internship with Collingham is over, Matt decided to let Harry know when and where he's needed incase he wants Harry to help take pictures of the team. Luckily, today, Harry gets to sit in the stands to properly watch Louis play. Of course, he still has his camera because he wants to take pictures freely, but he's more than excited to be at the stadium as a fan rather than an employee, especially since his mother and Jay will be there with him. 

Harry pulls up to his house shortly after he leaves the institution, and he honks his horn to let his mother know that he is there. When she steps out the front door, her eyes widen in shock at the vehicle Harry is sitting at the wheel of, and when she hops into the passenger seat, her shock continues to grow. 

"Where on earth did you get this?" she wonders, fingers reaching out to touch the dash board. 

"It's Louis'. He wanted me to drive it today."

Anne laughs, breathlessly. "That Louis is something else," she mutters more to herself, shaking her head, touching more of the interior of the vehicle. "He must like you a lot, huh?"

"Maybe he's trying to bribe me into liking him," Harry teases, turning in to a fit of giggles when Anne laughs out loudly.

They soon drown out the laughter when Harry turns the volume up on the radio, and the two of them end up singing the songs that start playing. It's a nice moment where Harry realizes how much he missed spending time like this with his mother. They used to go for drives when he was younger and sing with the windows down so it's nice to relive those moments with his mother. It's a nice ride to the Burger Joint that's right across from the stadium, and when they finally pull into the parking spot, Harry and Anne are in a mess of giggles from how horrible they sounded from singing. They eventually exit the car and head inside the diner so they can enjoy a good burger before they need to head towards the stadium. They have a little while to where they can sit at the table and continue to talk and laugh and have fun - kind of like old times - and it makes Harry's heart feel so full. When it's finally time for them to head over to the stadium, where they plan to meet Jay, Harry is practically over the moon with how happy he is. 

He had a great day at the photography institution, then he had a great few hours with his mother, and now, his mother and Louis' mother get to finally meet one another, and Harry honestly couldn't ask for more. Plus, today is Chelsea's first game, and that means everyone will find out who the new captain will be for the team, and Harry has been having his fingers crossed _for weeks_ hoping Louis will get the title. 

Harry's just super excited. 

They get to the stadium and see that Jay is already waiting by the front entrance, sitting on the bench. Harry grabs his mother's arm and nearly drags her across the sidewalk to get the two of them to Jay as quickly as possible. When Jay sees them coming into view, she instantly brightens up and stands from the bench. 

"Harry," Jay greets happily. 

"Hello, Jay," Harry responds, pulling Jay into a hug. "It's great to see you again."

"Likewise. Louis has been talking non stop about today," Jay laughs, eyes soon flicking over to Anne and welcoming her with a smile. "Hello, you must be Harry's mum. I'm Jay Tomlinson."

Anne brightens up, shaking Jay's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Anne."

There's a crowd already forming to get inside the stadium, but Harry has three passes for them to get inside with ease. Since they are considered VIP, they get all the special treatments, like the lounge area above and below in the stadium, they even get seats close to the field, and they get free access to food and alcohol if they desire for it. Once they get inside, Harry leads them down to the lounge so they can grab a couple of drinks and snacks for the game, and then they're walking out to their seats where the rest of the VIP people are already at. Harry can see Matt off in the distance of the field taking pictures of absolutely everything, and when Matt catches his eye, the two begin waving at one another. Harry knows that the players should be running out at any moment considering Matt is lingering around the tunnels, and that just makes Harry's anxiousness for the captain announcement grow. He really wants Louis to get it. 

"Oh man, I'm nervous," Harry breathes out. He doesn't realize his hands are shaking until he looks down and sees them moving like crazy. Harry lets out another breath and slowly moves his hands to his thighs. "I really hope Louis gets the captain title."

Anne presses her hand to Harry's shoulder. "Me, too, sweetie. He deserves it."

"I'm definitely biased," Jay announces with a smile, fondly, shaking her head as she brings her glass of wine to her lips to take a small sip. She sets her glass back down and turns to Harry and Anne. "But I think out of everyone on the team, Louis has worked his hardest to get it. He's done amazing the past season."

"He's settled down, too," Anne mumbles under her breath, trying to hide it by sipping on her own glass of wine, but Harry easily heard it. He flushes and playfully nudges his mother's side. 

"So, true," Jay agrees, now in a little bubble with Anne and forgetting that Harry is actually there. Harry rolls his eyes and slumps in his seat, remaining perfectly kept in looking out into the field rather than getting involved in mom talk. "The other day, Louis called me just to gush about how happy he is. It's honestly so adorable."

"Harry is the same, too."

Harry scoffs. "Mum," he complains. 

"Oh, hush up," Anne scolds. 

"No, I promise you Harry, Louis is the exact same, if not worse," Jay reassures with a smile. "I have to remind him that our conversations don't necessarily have to be all about you, but he just goes on tangents sometimes. You make him super happy. The most happy I've ever seen in my life."

Harry blushes again, biting his lip and feeling his heart jump in his chest. Harry never really knew how happy he made Louis until hearing it from Jay. It's like a breath of fresh air to know that the smile on Louis' face is because of him and every lingering thought Louis is having consists of Harry. Harry's always had his doubts when it came to being in a relationship, only because he's so inexperienced compared to Louis, so there was always this thought pressing at the back of Harry's mind where he didn't think he was good enough for Louis. Harry has only been with one person, Tanner, and that relationship didn't go anywhere other than kissing so Harry was scared that his inexperience would draw a lot of his relationships away, especially Louis. It's not like Harry always thought of Louis as a slag, but what older boy wants to be with someone who has never touched a cock, let alone his own cock? It's kind of a strange thought, but it's the truth. No matter who Harry is with, he's scared that his lack in knowledge with sex will be the main driving force from him ever getting far enough in any relationship, but if Louis is perfectly happy with how things currently are, then Harry knows he should be happy too. 

There's no pressure, and Louis has reminded Harry multiple times that sex can wait, and if he's still telling his mom how happy Harry makes him, then Harry knows he's doing something right in this relationship. 

Harry is interrupted when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He instantly brightens up when he knows it's Louis who is texting him, and when he unlocks his phone and reads Louis' name on the screen, he's practically glowing in excitement from finally getting to talk to his boyfriend. 

i'm _pretty nervous Haz. i think a kiss would help me :(_

Harry giggles and types out his response. 

_How about a blowjob? (;_

_wow bby. u def read my mind xxxxx_

Harry rolls his eyes, a soft smile pressing his lips. 

_Yeah. Now we need to go find someone to give it to you (;_

_ur so meeeaaaannnnn_

Harry is giggling like a fool and briefly sets his phone down to check on the moms. He sees they are still in their own little world, but he interrupts them for a second so he can take their picture to send to Louis. Once he takes the photo, he goes back to his messages with Louis. 

_The mums have been wined and dined. Wishing you the best of luck xxx_

Harry quickly pockets his phone when he hears the music starting to play. AC Milan is the first one out on the field, and they run to the visitor side of the stadium and greet all their fans for the time being until the Chelsea anthem starts playing through the speakers. Then everyone on the Chelsea section stands up, including Jay, Anne and Harry. The stadium starts to erupt in cheers, and right when the fog starts to blow at the end of the tunnels, the players begin running out on to the field. Harry all but squeals loudly when he catches sight of Louis jogging with his teammates. He's waving to the crowd and pumping his fist in the air until his eyes catch Harry's. Then Louis starts pointing to Harry and blowing him a kiss, causing Harry to just giggle like a damn fool.   
  
The cheering doesn't die down even when both the teams start doing warm ups and agilities. Anne and Jay go back to talking for the time being, but since there is still some time before they are announcing the starters, Harry pulls his camera out and begins taking a bunch of pictures of Louis. He gets Louis doing some high knees and some squats, then he gets some of Louis kicking the ball around the cones. He continues to click his camera even as Louis starts walking away from his team and begins walking closer to Harry. Harry lowers his camera to his chest when he realizes Louis is heading his way and smiles when Louis' jogging slows down once he close enough to talk. Louis goes to Anne and Jay first to greet them each with a hug and a kiss to the cheek, then he's scooting down the railing and getting face to face with Harry, smiling brightly and hand reaching out to hold Harry's bicep. 

"So, do I get my kiss now?" Louis teases, other hand wrapping around Harry's waist and resting his palm flat at the base of Harry's spine.

Harry shivers at the touch, but he winds his arms around Louis' neck and pushes forward. "I suppose," he mumbles, nibbling his bottom lip before he's pressing a quick, chaste kiss to Louis' mouth. He hums when their lips make contact, but he's pulling back shortly after knowing that there are a lot of people around, and the last thing he wants is for all the attention to go to them. "Good luck today. I'm expecting perfect performance."

"Always for you, baby."

Louis presses a couple more quick kisses to Harry's lips and is then pulling completely away so he can rejoin his team. Harry takes his seat again and gets his camera ready when he sees that both teams are beginning to line up to prepare for the team announcements. AC Milan goes first, all of their starters getting called out and running out to the center of the field, waiting for Chelsea's turn. When the announcer now prepares to call out Chelsea's team, the entire stadium goes radio silent. It's like everyone in the stadium is anticipating for the moment when they release who the new team captain is going to be, and as they get further and further down the line up, closer to Louis' name, Harry starts having a big feeling growing inside of him that Louis is about to get the title. And it seems like everyone has the same feeling as well because right before Louis is getting called, the entire stadium is on their feet cheering loudly, and as expected, when Louis gets his name announced, so does the captain title.

Harry swears he nearly jumps over the railing to the section their sitting in from how excited he gets. He's jumping up and down screaming loudly, hugging Anne and Jay and randomly pressing the camera button hoping, praying that he was able to get a picture of something. Harry's just too in his celebration to actually focus on the fact that the Coach is handing the captain's arm band to Louis, and Louis is walking in the center of the field to meet with the referee and with AC Milan's team captain. The moment is just so great, and Harry is just so happy, and he's so proud of Louis for working as hard as he did to finally become the captain of the team. 

Because Louis did it. He finally did it.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **HarryStyles:** Oh Captain, My Captain x

**NiallHoran commented:** CONGRATS MATE **_@LouisTomlinson_**

**AnneStyles commented:** Great picture xx

//

Chelsea win's 3 to 1, and Louis scores two goals. It's a great game to start their season off with, and it's also a great game to start Louis' captain career off with. 

After the game is over and Louis is freshened up, he meets Harry, Jay, and Anne for dinner. Since he had to stay behind for a little bit after the game to talk to the press and paparazzi, he told the three of them to go ahead and get a table while he answers questions about today's game. It takes about an hour before he's finally able to break free to meet the mom's and Harry for food. By the time he's walking up to the table, they all have drinks and a couple appetizers already delivered. Louis breathes out in relief when he sees a few onion rings left in the basket, and as he takes his spot next to Harry, he's already grabbing some of the food to fill his empty stomach. 

"How was it?" Harry wonders, smiling when Louis' arm unconsciously lays across the back of his chair. Harry scoots closer to Louis and tucks himself into Louis' side, idly handing him another onion ring. 

"They just asked me a bunch of questions about the future of the team and if I expected this." Louis shrugs, nonchalant. "It was great. Lot's of photo ops and autographs. I'm glad it was only an hour though."

Jay is smiling as she reaches across the table to grab Louis' hand. "Twenty years old and the captain of a premiere league team. Louis, I'm so proud of you. I'm one lucky mama."

"Well, I agree," Anne responds brightly. She picks up her wine glass, because that seems to be what all her and Jay have been drinking today, and clinks her glass with Jay. "Although, I must get some credit because my son gets to date the twenty year old superstar."

Louis frowns when both moms start giggling. "Have they been like this all game?" he questions privately to Harry. 

Harry nods. "The _entire_ game," he grumbles playfully, leaning his head on Louis' shoulder. "They drank wine at the game so they're probably tipsy now."

"We _can_ hear you," Anne reminds with frown. 

"Yeah, mum. We can hear you, too," Harry teases back, even grabbing up his wad up straw wrapper to flick at Anne. 

Anne ignores Harry and goes back to gossiping with Jay. Harry rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Louis, smiling when he realizes that Louis is already looking at him, fondly. 

"How was school today?"

Harry bites his lip, trying to contain his smile. "It was amazing, Lou. I felt like I was in my element," Harry sighs dreamingly, shivering when he feels Louis' fingers sneaking their way under his shirt until he's touching Harry's warm skin. "Everyone there is so nice and welcoming. Literally, no one was rude at all. I also learned a lot about the camera on the first day. I'm so glad my mum let me do this."

"That's pretty, great, Haz."

"Yeah, I also ran into one of my old friends," Harry admits, soon frowning because that's technically not true. "Well," he hums, twisting his lips to the side. "He's not my friend. He's Niall's friend."

Louis raises his eyebrow. "Who is it?"

"His name is Jake," Harry nearly groans out, rolling his eyes at just the mention of his name. "He's good friends with Niall, but for some reason, he just won't leave me alone. He's not mean or anything, but he's constantly trying to talk and be friends with me, and I don't know why."

Louis starts cackling. "He probably has a crush on you or something."

"NO!" Harry nearly shouts. He flushes in embarrassment when some customers around them turn to look at him with distaste, and then he catches the mothers turning to look at him as well. Harry laughs nervously, brushing them off with a wave of his hand and turning back to Louis. "I mean - no," he states calmly, quieter. "I have a boyfriend. It's no okay for him to have a crush on me."

Louis continues to laugh. "Just because you're taken doesn't mean other people can't like you," he reminds, leaning forward to press a slobbery kiss to Harry's forehead. 

"It's true, love," Jay agrees, nodding her head. "You're quite the looker. Anyone would be a fool to think otherwise."

Well, that's .... news to him. 

Louis tilts his head at the comment and glances back at Harry, eyes narrowing a bit. "You're mine, though," he adds, slightly possessive, sending a shrill down Harry's spine that gets him grinning like a fool. "Make sure he knows that."

Harry bites his lip and nods, leaning in to give Louis a kiss. "Oh, I'm sure he'll get the point when you leave your next love bite on my neck."

"Might have to give you another one tonight then," Louis whispers quietly, ducking his face into Harry's neck and playfully nibbling his skin. "Gotta let everyone know that you're mine."

And well, Harry isn't going to complain about that. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** He's fucking cute. x

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**HarryStyles commented:** My hair is a mess

**LouisTomlinson replied:** ur perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who likes the instagram posts? 
> 
> I DOOOOOOOO


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **There's some smutty smut**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Date night x

**LouisTomlinson commented:** great night (;

//

Harry feels _wonderful._ So wonderfully wonderful, he swears he's floating on clouds. The bed he's on is nice. The covers over his body feels nice. The arm wrapped around his waist feels nice. The soft breathing sounds coming from Louis is also nice. Harry just feels ... _nice._

Harry's perfect morning he is currently living in most likely has to due with the fact that Louis took him on a date last night, and not just any date, it was a complete surprise for Harry. It started when Louis kidnapped Harry from his house, not telling him where they were going until Louis was pulling up to fair grounds in central London. It was the most cliche date Harry had ever been on, but it was also so perfect. The two of them went on so many rides that Harry's curls ended up tangled and all over his head, and they even went on the ferris wheel so they could be cheesy and share a kiss at the top of the ride. Then, because Louis _had to_ , he won Harry a stuffed teddy bear by playing a ring toss game, and then he finished the night off by taking Harry to a late night diner so they could share a milkshake and some chicken nachos. Honestly, it was amazing, and Harry was lucky enough to go back to Louis' flat to spend the night after the date, and now, here he is, laying in Louis' bed and feeling _nice._ _So fucking nice._

The date has been on Harry's mind since the moment it happened, but he fell asleep with a smile on his face and his mind constantly running with how romantic and beautiful Louis is. It definitely helped with Harry's dream over night, and it's probably the main reason why Harry feels _so nice_ all of a sudden. 

"Harry," he then hears a voice, _a nice_ , soothing voice that warms his body up, even in his sleep. "Wake up," the voice continues. 

Harry sighs when he feels a warm hand now going on to his shoulder, lightly shaking his body and instead of Harry actually waking up to it, he just cuddles further into the pillow he is clutching, sighing some more. 

"God, Harry. You're killing me here. Please, wake up."

The voice Harry hears has a bit more urgency than before, and with a couple more rough shakes to his body, Harry is groaning, eyes slowly opening up. Harry frowns as he turns his head slightly to the side, seeing Louis is leaning up on his elbows and staring wildly at Harry. 

"What?" he grumbles, furrowing his eyebrows together. Harry rubs at his eyes so he can see Louis more clearly, but once all the sleep is gone from his face, he can now see that Louis looks stressed and troubled, sweat prickling his forehead and bottom lip tugged under his teeth. Harry giggles a little. "Why do you look like that?"

With a huff, Louis glances down Harry's body. "Your cock is awake," he blurts out, sounding on the verge of tears.

Honestly, it would be quite comical how Louis is reacting if it wasn't for the fact that Harry's entire body flushes in embarrassment. His eyes widen in shock, quickly scrambling into a sitting position to look down and see that yep, he is definitely tenting through his pajamas - well, through the covers as well. Harry cusses and grabs a pillow to cover his groin in a matter of seconds, falling back on the mattress and closing his eyes because he's too embarrassed to do anything else. 

"Not again," he groans.

Louis tilts his head to the side. "What do you mean _again_?"

"I woke up with a hard on at the beginning of the year," Harry shamefully admits. He feels his heart start beat faster in his chest and like the room is too hot to have covers and a pillow over his body, yet at the same time, goosebumps are starting to form on his arm. Harry takes a chance and cracks his eyes open a little bit to see the damage done around him, but his groin is still covered, he's still embarrassed, and Louis looks completely manic. "Then it happened a couple of times over the summer."

Louis blushes immediately, nibbling on his bottom lip and slumping against the head board. He doesn't really know what to say to that other than to cross his arms over his chest with a grunt. It's not like he didn't think Harry got hard or anything, he's seen it a few times when they made out, but what he never really understood was why Harry got _so shy_ about it. Getting hard is natural, and waking up from a sleep with a boner is also natural as well. Louis does it nearly all the time, especially now that Harry spends the night a lot. Most of the time Louis does catch it before Harry wakes up, and he normally goes off into the bathroom to fix himself up so Harry doesn't have to worry about a hard cock poking his back or his stomach right when he wakes up. But with Harry, Louis just simply didn't know what to expect with him.

"Normally, I wake up and it's already ... _released_ ," Harry tries to explain, cringing at his own choice of words. Louis smiles a little. Harry's so cute when he's flushed like this. "But well, now that you're here, I keep waking up with it ... _full_."

"It's normal, Harry."

"I don't know why it keeps happening though," He nearly cries, shaking his head because this really can not be happening right now. "It's easier when its already done when I wake up. This just - this is so embarrassing." Harry groans again and brings his hands up to cover his face. 

"It's not embarrassing, Harry. It just means you're attractive to me and your body wants to get sexual. It's kinda hot really."

Harry uncovers his face and playfully slaps Louis' chest. "Don't make jokes," he warns, frowning. "You're way too amused, and I'm over here dying of embarrassment."

"H, you know I'm just messing with you only because this is sort of affecting me as well," Louis admits, shamelessly. Harry furrows his eyebrows together at the remark and slowly moves into a sitting position as well. Now that he is closer to Louis' face, he can definitely see his eyes are blown nearly black and his cheeks are rosy pink. He never really thought waking up with a boner would make Louis this nervous. It's kind of endearing. "You're a boy who doesn't prefer to pleasure himself -"

"How do you know that?" Harry questions with a pout. 

Louis smiles. "I was with you for an entire summer and not once did I hear or see you go have a wank."

"Wow, I'm such a prude," Harry whines, going to cover his face again. 

"I'm not trying to make fun of you," Louis reassures, softly, reaching out to pull Harry's hands from his face. "I'm just saying that since you don't like to touch yourself, your body has to find a way to naturally release. Sometimes it can be humping the mattress in your sleep until you're waking up with jizz in your pants, or sometimes it's just waking up with a hard-on to remind you it's time to wank."

Louis' right. He's so right it makes the hair on Harry's arm stand up. That doesn't even make sense, but Louis hit the hammer to nail so perfectly, and Harry just feels so young and naive right now. Harry _doesn't like to touch himself_ , and he doesn't know why. The thought alone makes him so nervous, and the one time he actually tried to finger himself in the shower, he barely got a finger in before he started to chicken out. It's a crazy concept to know that something _as big as a cock_ can fit in something _as small as an asshole._ Harry knows that there are plenty of people out there who do anal and are still alive and living fine, but the initial nerves of it happening is what holds Harry back. He knows it's going to be painful trying to stretch him open, and the pain that he anticipates to happen keeps him from shoving anything inside himself. Harry doesn't want to do anything wrong if he ever tries to stick a finger inside his body, he doesn't think he could ever live with that embarrassment. Even the thought of pumping his cock is strange to him; why touch yourself when someone else can do it for you .... right?

Because for this entire year, Harry hans't thought once about ever pleasuring himself. He easily brushes it aside by taking a cold shower or doing whatever he can to make his hard on go away. But now that he and Louis have been dating for a couple of months, and Louis hasn't pressured him into doing something he doesn't want to do, he's been thinking about it more often. Louis is here. Louis can touch him. Louis can probably make him feel a whole lot better than he can himself, and since most of the dreams that cause Harry to wake up with a boner are either sexual or sweet dreams of Louis, then he knows that Louis is the one he wants touching his body. Not anyone else. Not even himself. 

"Stop over thinking it," Louis reminds after a few seconds of Harry just staring at the wall. "What are your dreams even about?"

Harry's eyes widen in fear, and he snaps his head so quickly in Louis' direction that it almost looks like he gave himself whiplash. "I'm not telling you anything. That's embarrassing."

"I'm not - I'm just trying to help," Louis eases, seeing Harry relax a little. "What are your dreams about?"

Harry swallows, wrapping his arms around himself and staring at the pillow covering his groin. "You."

Louis suspected such, but he is still blushing like a fool to know that Harry's dreams consist of him, and he's the main reason why Harry keeps waking up with boners. It's romantic ... kind of. 

"What about me?" Louis swallows. 

Harry briefly closes his eyes to relieve a big breath. "The first dream I had of you, _uh_ , well. We were _uh_ -"

"Harry, it's okay. Just say it."

Louis places his hand on Harry's thigh, hoping to comfort him, but all it does is raises Harry's nerves. 

"We were making out. You had me pinned against a wall, and then you started touching me. Fingering me."

Louis raises his eyebrow. _That's a nice dream_ , he thinks. 

"The next dream we were both naked. You had me on the mattress. You were on top. You were touching me again, but it was all over my body, and we were _uh_ \- we were about to have sex. It was - it felt so real. Your dick was just there, touching, but not going in yet. I think I woke up right before it happen."

Louis hates himself for his cock gaining interest in this. He genuinely is trying to understand and help Harry, but hearing these sexual dreams his boyfriend is having about him peaks his interest ... _a lot._

"Then this dream," Harry pauses to laugh. This is so embarrassing. "We were having sex. We were at the fair, and you started kissing me frantically. Then the next thing I know our clothes are off, and we're doing it vanilla style on the grass - well, on a bunch of Lilies." Harry's face is bright red by the time he's finished, and because he doesn't know when to stop, he adds, "And I liked all the dreams I suppose."

Louis hums, licking his lips and dragging his eyes away from Harry. "Why were we having sex on Lilies?"

Harry likes the way sex sounds coming from Louis' lips. 

"They're my favorite flower."

"In your dream, we did it at the fair, like the one in central London?"

Harry cringes. "Yeah."

Louis huffs, turning into a small laugh because this is just crazy. "You thought about having sex after our date last night?"

"Louis!" Harry whines, pouting as he slaps Louis' arm playfully. "Don't make fun of me or judge me, okay? I like when you're romantic like that. I can't help it. Gosh." 

Now he's back to covering his face with his hands. 

"Baby, I'm not judging you," Louis reassures again. He goes to grab Harry's hand from his face and this time laces their fingers together so Harry doesn't have a way of hiding anymore. "If we're being honest, I have dreams like that about you, too."

Harry laughs, purely out of amusement and nervousness. "Really?" he questions innocently. "What are yours about?"

"I think if you knew you would run as far away as possible," Louis teases, smiling when Harry laughs. "But, you're hot Harry. Sexy. Cute. Beautiful. Adorable. Pretty. It's really not that hard for me to think sexually about you."

"Wow," Harry breathes, nibbling on his bottom lip, feeling slightly better in knowing that Louis also has dreams like this. 

"Do you remember this first time you came over to my place?"

Harry raises his eyebrow, hesitant to see where this is going. "Yeah. We had a movie night," he reminds, soon smiling some more. "It's the first time I spent the night."

"Yeah, that was the first night I had dream about you."

Harry hums, "Really?"

Now that Harry thinks about it, he remembers Louis trying to make a move on him that night. Or, it wasn't that he tried to make a move, all he did was place his hand intimately on Harry's thigh, and Harry thought he was about to melt into the covers of the bed. 

"I remember you were on your hands and knees _begging_ for me to play a movie for you, and all that kept going on in my head is that - he's on his hands and knees - he's begging for me - and I -"

"You were getting hard," Harry finishes for him, loudly because he _does_ remember looking down and seeing Louis' bulge fatter than normal. "I remember. I saw it. Then you touched my thigh, and I had no idea what was going on."

Louis giggles, nervously. "Yeah, you fucked with my head that night." He sighs. "And then well - I fucked you in my dream."

"So blunt," Harry laughs, eyes widen. 

Louis shrugs his shoulders. "Might as well be honest here. After you left the next morning, I had a long wank in the shower."

"That's so romantic," Harry then teases, laughing because now he doesn't feel so embarrassed any more. Actually, he feels flattered knowing Louis thinks he's sexy enough to have wet dreams about. "I like when you talk dirty to me."

Louis rolls his eyes and playfully slaps Harry. "I'm just saying, these dreams are normal. I have them of you. I find you attractive. Just don't be embarrassed or shy about it around me because I promise you my dreams are a lot more intense and occur a lot more than yours do."

Harry blushes, not entirely sure how he's even to respond to that. It's one thing to know that your boyfriend thinks you're hot, but it's another thing to know that your boyfriend constantly has sexual dreams about you. Man, Harry might need an extinguisher to take out the fire he feels igniting inside his body. 

"So," Louis continues, exhaling a little. "What about you, what do you think of me?"

Now _that_ question, Harry definitely isn't expecting. 

"What?" Harry laughs, embarrassed, still blushing. 

Louis shrugs. "I mean genuinely, what do you think about me?

"You have a pretty face?" Harry tries, scrunching his face up because he's not entirely sure how he's supposed to answer the question. 

"Harry," Louis scolds, laughing despite himself. "I'm being serious. What do you think about me?"

Well, this definitely is a conversation Harry was not intending to have at all since he woke up. Quite frankly, he didn't think he would ever have this conversation with Louis, but now he feels trapped. He's in Louis' apartment, sitting on Louis' bed, with Louis' comforter hiding his growing bulge, and Louis' right there next to him. It's slightly suffocating, and Harry hasn't even had the sex talk with his own mother so now that he's supposedly having it with his boyfriend is more than Harry ever bargained for. 

When Harry still doesn't respond, Louis huffs before he's yanking his t shirt off, and the way Louis' bicep muscles ripple from the movement makes Harry whine deep in his throat. 

"Good gosh," he cries, covering his face again when he feels his cock stirring back to life. Louis shirtless is a sin, and Louis shirtless in the morning after having a wonderful date night is a damn near crime. Harry hates himself for getting hot from seeing his boyfriend's abs. It's completely unfair how much of an effect Louis has on him. "This is horrible." Harry frowns and pulls the covers off from his lap, exposing his vary obvious bulge and his now newly formed wet patch. He groans and covers his face again. 

"You are just ready for it, aren't you?" 

Louis' is laughing, and Harry is not finding it funny. 

"Stop it," Harry grumbles, unveiling his face and lazily tossing his arms out in front of him. "This is the most embarrassed I've been in my life, and you think it's freaking hilarious."

Louis sighs and scoots closer to wrap his arm around Harry's neck, trying to comfort him somehow. "Look, I'm not trying to make fun of you," Louis reassures, even leaning forward to kiss at the side of Harry's face. Harry cracks the tiniest smile. "You never talk to me about this stuff so I don't know how you feel about any of it. Every couple has to eventually have the sex talk, and we have yet to do it. We've just brushed it aside."

"You want to have the sex talk the day I wake up with a boner?" Harry questions, raising his eyebrow, laughing just a smidge, mainly sounding like an amused puff of breath coming out his nose. 

Louis tilts his head side to side. "I mean, it's got to happen. How do you feel about sex? What do you want? What can we do? What do you want to try?"

"Just jump right in it, yeah?" Harry snorts, shaking his head. "Okay, fine," he breathes out slowly. "Well, to be honest, I do think about it - me and you and _sex_ \- but then it's like right when I get anywhere with it, I hit a wall. There's something inside of me that keeps me from doing anything more, and I just don't feel ready."

Louis raises his eyebrow, humming thoughtfully. "Does it have anything to do with Tanner?"

"I guess," Harry shrugs as he nibbles on his bottom lip, deflating a little. "I didn't really think about it, but ever since I was with him, I've been nervous - terrified, even. I want to be with the right person. I want it to feel right. I don't ever want to feel the way again."

"I know, baby. We can take as much time as you need. I'm not trying to pressure you or force you to do anything you don't want to do, you know that right?"

Harry nods because he _does_ know. There have been plenty of times where their make out sessions get rather heated, and Harry has to pull himself away from edging Louis on too much. The main reason why he even stops in the first place is because he doesn't want to frustrate Louis. He knows kissing can lead to more, and since Harry doesn't want more right now, he doesn't want to lead Louis on. He wants to stop things before it gets too far, and he knows one day he and Louis will most likely have sex, and he's hoping then when that time comes, he'll be ready - more than ready. Harry's already thinking about taking it a step further beyond kissing so he knows the day will come when he's actually ready for penetrative sex. The thought isn't as scary as it used to be, but still, he's not ready for that. Harry's ready for more, but only to a certain extent. 

Maybe there _is_ something Harry and Louis can do now that he's thinking about it. Since he's hard, and Louis is right here with him, maybe Harry can finally let Louis touch him in ways that he's always dreamed about. 

"Can we try something?" Harry then questions softly, glancing Louis' way, nervously. 

"Sure."

Harry takes a slow steady breath before he's pulling his knees up, feet resting flat on the mattress. "Will you _uh -_ will you help me with this?" he questions with a point to his groin. 

Louis eyes widen comically, looking straight down at where Harry's bulge is poking from his pants. He gulps and looks back at Harry. "Harry, are you sure?"

With another breath, Harry nods his head. He holds his eye contact with Louis as he brings his hands down to his pajama bottoms, anxiously nibbling on his bottom lip as he slowly starts maneuvering his body so he can take his pants off. Louis doesn't look down at all while Harry starts pulling his clothes off. His eyes never leave Harry's, and even his hand that's itching to touch remains on his own body, resting on his thighs with his fingers digging into his leg. Louis can tell Harry is nervous by the way his breathing is coming out rugged and heavy, but the way his bulge has failed to go down and his eyes still blown, he can also tell Harry wants this. Harry eventually gets the bottom half of his body exposed, and once he tosses his pants off to the side, he breathes out his nose before he's moving his body to where he's sitting back on his thighs. 

Harry swallows and leans forward to kiss Louis on the lips, a quick one, hand caressing the side of Louis' cheek and pulling back just a smidge so their noses are inches apart. 

"I trust you," Harry whispers against Louis' mouth, blinking. "It's baby steps, yeah?"

Louis doesn't have words to respond because he's still in such shock that Harry is half naked in front of him, so all he can do is nod, and gulp, and maybe breathe a little unsteadily. When Louis still doesn't make a move to do anything, Harry pulls his face back a little more and laughs nervously. 

"Louis, you can touch me."

Louis closes his eyes for a brief moment and laughs, just fucking laughs because this is still the craziest morning he's ever had. But, his boyfriend, his hot, adorable, cute, sexy boyfriend is half naked in front of him, _hard_ and naked, and he wants Louis to touch him, and who is Louis to ever deny what this boy wants? So as Louis opens his eyes, he bites his bottom lip and inches forward. It's the first time he's ever getting to touch or see Harry like this so he wants to both enjoy it and make sure Harry enjoys it as well. Before Louis actually does anything, he arches his body around to pull open the top drawer of his nightstand. He fumbles around with the mess that's in there until his fingers are wrapping around a bottle. Louis smiles instantly and quickly rights himself once he has the lube, and when Harry raises his eyebrow, questioning, Louis holds the bottle up. 

"It helps," Louis amends. 

Louis begins spreading some lube over one hand so when he does touch, there's no restriction with his glide. Harry watches him carefully until Louis is glancing back at him to make sure that he can still touch so when Harry gives him a reassuring nod, Louis wraps his lubed up hand around the girth of Harry's cock. Harry closes his eyes at the touch and moans, pathetically. It's the first time he's ever been touched like this, and Harry feels about ready to come. 

"Gosh," Harry breathes, teeth digging in to his bottom lip when Louis starts to stroke his hand up and down, Harry's hips suddenly jerking up, thrusting to get more of Louis' hand on his cock. 

"Fuck, Harry," Louis breaths, staring down at the way his hand easily glides along the length of Harry's cock. It's beautiful, and it's a sight, and Louis could possibly come from just doing this. " _Fuck_ , you're perfect."

Harry moans brokenly when Louis' hands get to the tip of his cock to squeeze around the head before using the small bits of pre-come that spill out as more lube to glide his hand down. Harry's hips keep thrusting up, faster, quicker, his weak whimpers and breathy moans getting louder by the second as Louis' hand quickens. Harry's finger dig into the sheets of the mattress, and he feels his toes curling with pleasure. His body feels on fire, and behind his closed eyelids, he sees stars. Harry's never felt like this before, and the way Louis is pumping his cock like Harry's orgasm is the most important thing in the world to him makes Harry insides ignite with pleasure. With a parted mouth, Harry tilts his head back and moans, he just moans and breathes loudly while he lets his body enjoy the feel of Louis' touch. 

When Louis' hand starts to slow down, Harry opens his eyes and tilts his head in Louis' direction, questioning him with a raised eyebrow.

"Can I try something else?" Louis wonders, licking his lips. 

Harry scrunches his nose. "S-Sure," he tries to say, but it comes more out like a choked sound when Louis plays around with the head of his cock. 

"You won't freak out?"

"Just do it," Harry cries, flinging himself back against the pillows and covering his eyes with his forearm. 

Louis nods his head in response, and when he realizes that Harry is back to not looking, he finds that his nod is irrelevant. So with a sigh, Louis maneuvers himself around the bed until he is in between Harry's spread legs. He tries his hardest not to look too low beyond Harry's cock, but with Harrys hole so open and inviting in between his ass cheeks, it's hard for Louis to not take a quick glance. Louis can feel his heart rate jump at how clean Harry looks down there. He's pink and puffy, and even though he knows Harry has never stuffed himself with anything, Louis can see the way Harry's hole is clenching around nothing as if anticipating of getting stuffed. _Fuck_ , Louis would love to stuff him with something, but instead, he has Harry's hard cock right there waiting to get pleasure, and he promised himself that he will do whatever he can to make sure Harry enjoys his first orgasm. 

Louis reaches out to grab a hold of Harry, and he hears a small hitch in Harry's throat from finally having his cock touched again. Louis smiles briefly, but then he's licking his lips hungrily and leaning forward until the tip of Harry's cock is nudging up against his mouth. Once Louis is close enough, he sticks his tongue out and runs it along the length of Harry's cock, finally getting a taste, running his tongue all the way up until he's wrapping his lips around the tip, suckling just a little bit before running his tongue back down. 

Harry's eyes fly open as his hands spring out to the mattress again, twisting the sheets in his fingers and mindlessly closing his thighs around Louis' head. "Fuck," Harry cries, heavily breathing when Louis runs his tongue again. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, Louis."

Louis smirks as best as he can with his lips wrapped around Harry's cock, but his smile soon fades when Harry bucks his hips up further into Louis' mouth. Louis splutters for a second, but he's relaxing his throat and tightening his lips so he can begin bobbing his head to a steady rhythm while his hands cover the base of Harry's cock so every inch of Harry is being touched. Harry can't stop thrusting his hips up now that he knows what it feels like to have Louis' mouth glide along his cock. He keeps doing it, and doing it, and doing it until he's arching his back off the bed with a loud cry belting out of him.

And as Harry feels himself completely releasing everything inside of his body, the one thought that never ceases to leave his mind is the fact that Louis Tomlinson is giving him his first blowjob. That's enough to make anyone come down someone's throat. 

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

****♥ 218,102 likes** **

****LouisTomlinson:**** What a sight x

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**HarryStyles commented:** Really Lou???

**LouisTomlinson** **replied:** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**LottieTommo commented:** Is this even appropriate to post ... 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** he just woke up from a nap, lotts 

//

Harry groans as he rolls on to his back, rubbing at the sleep he feels in his eyes. He knows he needs to actually get up soon to go see Niall, the lad is moving in to his new apartment for Uni, but for some reason, Harry's bones feel limp and his body feels like goo, and the last thing he wants to do is actually get up. The next last thing he wants to do is actually make himself look presentable. Harry hasn't even looked in a mirror today, and he knows after the blow job Louis gave him a couple hours ago probably left his face looking flushed and peachy. 

Ugh, Harry groans again because why did he ever agree to help Niall move?

He eventually gets up, with Louis following shortly after him. Harry goes into the bathroom to splash some water on his face and attempt to tame his curls, but nothing can hide the way his cheeks are still red and his lips are slightly swollen, but he hopes Niall doesn't pay too much attention to his appearance. Once Harry gets his clothes on and looks relatively decent, he walks out Louis' bedroom and sees that Louis is sitting on the barstool just waiting, smiling as Harry walks up to greet him. 

"Do you have to go help him?" Louis frowns, arms wrapping around Harry's waist and pulling the boy in between his legs. 

Harry hums and tucks his face into Louis' neck. "I'm a shitty friend and already promised him I'd help."

"So shitty," Louis teases, laughing. With a sigh, Louis pulls away, shamelessly admiring the way Harry looks right now, especially now seeing that Harry has a goofy ass grin on his face that's creating dimples in his cheeks. Louis giggles. "Babe, why do you look like that?"

Harry shrugs, grinning even wider, if that's even possible. "I just still can't believe you gave me a blowjob," he giggles, shyly, bringing his hands up to cover his mouth. "I've never - It was my first time, and it was great." 

Louis hums as he yanks Harry's impossibly closer, biting his bottom lip when Harry's hands come to rest on his chest. "It was great, wasn't it?" He smiles, tilting his head up to nudge his nose against Harry's, breathing out as he presses a kiss to Harry's lips, licking his way into Harry's mouth and feeling Harry's spine arch in his hold. "You tasted lovely, by the way," he adds once they pull apart."

Harry groans, rolling his eyes, regretfully detangling himself from Louis' hold. "Okay, I'm leaving," he announces, not letting Louis' lips or his hands or his words keep him from going to see Niall. 

He made a freaking promise. 

Harry takes the Range Rover, because Louis practically shoved the keys in Harry's possession before shoving him out the door, and drives towards Niall's new flat. Once he makes it, he sees that his friend is already moving boxes out of his car and taking the stairs up to his floor so Harry quickly joins in on helping until all the boxes are out of Niall's vehicle and completely taking space in Niall's place. After the last box is set down, by Harry, which also happened to be one of the heaviest, Harry plops down on the futon with a loud, breathy sigh coming out. Niall snorts and takes a spot next to Harry, relaxing against the cushions and smiling at all the shit he has boxed in the living room. 

"That wasn't terrible, was it?" Niall questions after a while, turning to glance at Harry with a cheeky smile. 

Harry frowns. "I thought I would help you decorate or summat. I didn't know I would be doing heavy lifting."

Niall rolls his eyes and grunts, but instead of it going back to silence and them minding their own business, Harry realizes that Niall is now actively staring at his face. Harry gets self conscious and touches his cheek where he thinks Niall's eyes are, but when he doesn't feel anything there, he wipes at his nose, mouth, chin, and forehead before he's huffing annoyed. 

"What?" 

"Why do you look like that?" is Niall's question. 

Harry widens his eyes because _oh_ ... he must not have gotten the remnants of his orgasm completely off his face. 

"There's a funny story actually."

"Really?" Niall wonders, crossing his arms over his face. "You looked like you got properly snogged - or shagged."

Harry giggles nervously. 

"Spit it out, before Jake and Hunter get here," Niall pesters.

Harry closes his eyes and groans because _of course_ Niall will be living with Jake this year. (And Hunter, but Harry doesn't really remember that friend all that much). It's like Harry can't escape the Jake one bit, and now it looks like he'll be seeing more of Jake than he really intends to. 

"It started out this morning when I woke up with a boner."

Niall gawks. "You did a what?"

"Yeah, and so, Louis wanted to have a sex talk to see where things were going between us, and I basically told him how much of a prude I am -"

"You're not a prude, Harry," Niall interrupts softly, patting Harry's shoulder for good comfort. "I'm sure once you start watching porn it'll open your mind up."

"I am not going to watch porn."

"Why not?" Niall frowns, almost disappointedly. "I'm sure Louis watches it." Harry hardens his eyes at the comment. "I'm just saying. You aren't having sex with each other so I'm sure he's using porn as an outlet. I bet if you go on his laptop one day and search his history, you'll see some freaky guy on guy shit. Maybe you can learn a thing or two."

Okay, and well, this is not how he expected the conversation to go. He doesn't want to think about Louis watching porn and him getting off on other people being more sexual than he is. It's not a very comforting thought, and it just makes having sex with Louis _that much more_ scary because the last thing Harry wants to happen is for Louis to start comparing Harry to the porn stars that get him off. It's repulsing. 

"Im trying to tell you that Louis gave me a blowjob this morning," Harry finally blurts out. 

It grows eerily silent after that, and Niall looks completely shocked and frozen all in one. He doesn't even move, or blink, or even breathe for all Harry can see. Niall's just sitting there, eyes wide, mouth parted, and his finger is still raised in the air from some unknown reason that Harry doesn't have the patience to understand. When Niall doesn't say or do anything, Harry just giggles, he giggles because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to do. He'd rather the conversation be focused on Louis giving him his first orgasm than what kind of porn stars bring Louis to his orgasms. 

"He did a what to you?" Niall eventually questions, eyebrows furrowed together, genuinely looking lost and confused. "He gave you a blow job, Harry?" he then questions more coherent, sounding slightly distraught. "Why?"

"He's my boyfriend, Niall. I can't be a prude forever."

Niall shakes his head. "It's not that, it's just - _fuck_ , Harry. You're taking the next step, and since Louis is obviously more experienced than you are when it comes to sex, I just don't want him to pressure you for anything more. It starts out as a blowie or a handie, but then he's wanting to put his cock in places it shouldn't be going, and I don't want you to be forced to do anything you don't want." 

"I initiated it."

Niall shuts his mouth. 

"I know where you're coming from, Ni, and I really appreciate it. I do, but when we talked this morning, he knew that I wasn't ready. I told him about Tanner, and I told him I'm terrified for it to happen, and he respected it. He was nervous to touch me in the first place, but he waited until I told him he could do so."

Niall eases up a little, just a little, but he still has tense shoulders. "Look, I don't know him as well as you do, but from what I've seen and read about him - you just need to be careful, okay? I don't want him to pressure you, but I also don't want him to take his urges somewhere else for somebody else to fill."

"You really think he would cheat on me?" Harry questions softly, sounding so innocent and naive, like the thought really never occurred to him. 

"Honestly?" Niall questions, seeing Harry nod eagerly. "No, I don't think so," he admits truthfully. "I can tell he's gone for you, mad gone for you. He was a fool for you before the two of you even dated, and now he's over the fucking moon since you two have gotten together so I don't think he would cheat, but still. Be careful, Haz. I remember not that long ago you were crying on the phone to me because you walked in on him and some girl fooling around on the couch." 

Harry grunts. He hated that day, and he's tried so many times to burn that image from his brain, but every now and then when he looks at the couch, he can see the spitting image of Louis detangling himself from the half naked girl he was snogging. It's nauseating. 

"I know," Harry settles with, sighing. "We talked about it so I feel better, but I really don't know when I'll be ready - if I'll ever be ready. Now that you mentioned porn, I'm kind of nervous to know that's what I'm up against." 

Niall rolls his eyes and scoots closer to Harry on the couch. "Haz, we don't even know if he watches it. I was just saying. He probably won't need it now that he has an image of what you look like when you come - "

"Niall," Harry groans, slapping Niall's arm. 

"I'm just saying," he shrugs. 

"Let's stop talking about me. What about you? Are you ready for Uni?"

Niall tilts his head side to side. "Kind of. There's this really cute girl living across the hall from me, and I realized that she's going to be in a couple of my classes."

"Oh," Harry brightens up, smiling excitedly. "A potential girlfriend?"

Niall nods. "I hope so. She so pretty, and goofy as hell. Her name is Ellie. She's blonde, and she's a communications major. Super smart and beautiful. Just how I like my woman."

"Well, look at you," Harry laughs as he playfully nudges his foot against Niall's calf. "You got the whole package deal, huh?"

Niall snorts. "I would say you have it." Harry raises his eyebrow. "Come on. You're dating a super star football player. You practically live in his home. You travelled all of Europe with him, and you made him a better man."

"I did not," Harry disagrees bashfully. 

"You did. Ever since you two have been together, there has been no bad rep about Louis."

"Stop," Harry blushes, biting his lip and turning to look away. 

"I'm happy things worked out between the two of you. I know I gave you a lot of shit for it in the beginning, but you always did see the best in people, and Louis really is a good guy. I'm happy you're happy." 

Harry feels his lips curving up into a smile. "Thank you. That means a lot to me. He does make me happy."

"I mean at first when you two fought, I definitely had my doubts, but then he came to me and - "

"Wait," Harry interrupts, shaking his head in confusion. "He came to you? When?"

"Literally right after your break down, he came to me and ask how he could fix his relationship with you. Practically begged me." 

Harry slouches a little. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, Louis' been good to you."

"Yeah," Harry hums, agreeing, smile turning into a devilish looking smirk. "He's been _real_ good to me."

Niall groans and grabs the closest pillow he can find to swat Harry in the face. "Oi, keep that to your self. I don't want to know what the boy does to you."

"You know what he does to me?" Harry then asks, sounding sincere when he does so. "He makes me so happy, and he makes me feel so comfortable in my own skin. He never judges me, he embraces all my weird quirks, and he lives off of trying to make me smile. I've never been with someone who has supported me as much as he does. Like, he supports me painting my nails, the femmish way I dress and the bright colors I like. He supports my voice and my opinions - my style, my hair - he makes me forget that there were ever people out there who turned me down because all he does is turn me up. He makes me feel perfect in such an imperfect world."

Okay, Harry might, _might_ be in love, but he won't even admit that to himself yet. 

Niall hums thoughtfully, smiling a little as he tilts his head up to the sky. "Pick someone supportive my mum always said."

"Well, then I guess I already did that."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

****♥ 74 likes** **

****HarryStyles:**** How does one say goodbye to their best friend forever? My poor Niall is about to start Uni and head into the real world without me ):

**NiallHoran commented:** You act like I'm moving away

**NiallHoran commented:** I literally live walking distance from you 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** he's a drama queen. a cute one. x

**AnneStyles commented:** Woohoo go Niall !!!! xxxx


	16. Chapter 16

Harrys at Louis' place, again, because when is he not there? Louis is currently packing his bag for his next away game in the closet, and Harry is sitting on the bed with his laptop open and face time pulled up with his cousin on the screen. He smiles when he sees Claire's pixelated face grinning so happily from seeing him. It makes Harry remember a time when all he had to do was walk out his door and go next door to see her, but face time is just as good. 

"Hazmasta, when plays in Manchester, you should come up," Claire suggest excitedly. "I miss you, you know?"

Harry sighs, smiling a little. "I miss you, too. Of course I'll come up to see you guys. I think it would be fun."

In all honesty, Harry has had multiple occasions in the past couple of years where he could have taken the train to Manchester or asked his mother to drive him to visit Claire, but for some reason, he's been nervous. He's never been to Claire's new place, and he knows the only reason why they even moved to Manchester in the first place is because the medical care there is a lot better than the one in Cheshire. Since Claire is always in and out of the hospital, running test after test, Manchester offered the tools that Claire needed in her fight for recovery. Harry doesn't want to go there and see how truly sick Claire is, it'll break his heart. He knows she's been healthy for the past couple of months, and her signs seem close to remission, but Harry doesn't want to replace the happy images he has of her with the new sickly ones. Harry doesn't think his heart can take it. 

"I didn't get the chance to meet Louis at your graduation so I want to meet him properly. He's amazing."

Claire emphasizes her compliment by moving her laptop screen around until she's showing the wall next to her bed. Harry sees that she has a banner picture of Louis hung up. Harry realizes that its the same picture he took of Louis a year ago when Matt asked him to take the players photo op, and it makes him start laughing knowing that Claire has one on her wall. 

"Should I find it strange you have a picture of my boyfriend on your wall?" Harry teases, feeling his heart swell when he hears the soft giggles coming from Claire. 

"I'm being supportive."

Harry rolls his eyes, but before he has a chance to respond to her, Louis is walking into the room, calling out a "Hey, babe," that briefly draws Harry's attention towards him. He's already dressed in his Chelsea travel clothes, and his packed bag is slung over his shoulder. He walks over to the bed and takes a seat on the edge of it next to Harry. "If you're tagging along, you should probably think about getting ready."

Ugh, Louis' right, and sometimes Harry doesn't like when Louis' right. 

"Hello, Louis Tomlinson," Claire interrupts, happily, waving at the screen. "Number seventeen. Captain and forward for Chelsea. A Capricorn dating my Aquarius of a cousin."

Louis raises his eyebrow, amused, and quickly glances at Harry before he's smiling at the screen. "You must be Claire. Harry's cousin." 

"She lives in Manchester so I was thinking whenever Chelsea goes there to play I can maybe come as well. You can proper meet her," Harry suggests, sounding hopeful. Claire is very important to Harry, and so is Louis, so he thinks it's best for the two most important people in his life (his mother and Gemma are a given) meet one another. 

Louis grins at the suggestion almost immediately. "I would love to meet you," he tells Claire, then slightly turning towards Harry. "I might be able to get us there a few days early so we can have a day to hang out?" Harry nods at the idea, and Louis turns back to the screen. "Whaddya say?"

Harry finds it adorable how soft Louis already is with Claire. They haven't even met, but the gentle tone Louis is using and the grand idea of all three of them getting to hang out makes Harry's heart so happy. He loves that Louis is willing to take a second out of his day to make Claire happy. It means so much to Harry, and he could honestly cry right now if it wasn't for the fact that he has company with him. He just sniffs instead. 

"I would love it," Claire squeals. 

"Alright, well if you don't mind, I need to steal Harry away. We have a plane to catch soon."

Claire waves at the screen. "Bye Harry. Bye Louis. Good luck at your game."

"Thank you, Claire," Louis responds, so gentle Harry still might cry. Louis even starts waving at the screen, and Harry finds himself just smiling like a fool at how adorable Louis is talking to his cousin. "I'll see you soon."

"Bye Claire Bear," Harry eventually says, once he gets in his right mind to look at the screen to see Claire off. He waits until she's ending the call before he's shutting the laptop, and once Harry and Louis are finally alone, Harry jumps Louis' bones and presses kisses all over his faces. 

They're only slightly late to the airport, but they still make it on the plane with minutes to spare. 

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 105 likes**

**HarryStyles:** Pre game selfie with my boo xx

 **NiallHoran commented:** Digging the fringe

 **LouisTomlinson replied:** I did it myself (;

// 

The England team is traveling to Moldova for the weekend to play Moldova in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification game. Louis is already down in the locker room with the team, and Harry is walking down the steps of the stadium to make his way towards the VIP section he already sees a couple people sitting in. He has his camera around his neck, because of course he's going to take pictures of Louis. Matt even asked him to take a bunch of shots of Louis and Liam playing on the England team so they can upload it to the Chelsea website. Harry's excited, and he's more than happy to take pictures of Louis playing - and Liam, he's happy to take pictures of him too. 

When Harry takes his seat on the bottom row of the section, he gets comfortable and starts to take some test shots of the arena. He only gets a few seconds of this quietness before he hears someone calling out his name. Harry frowns as he turns his head to see who it is, but when he sees that it's Alexi walking down the steps, _with a baby in her hands,_ Harry brightens up right away. 

"Harry, it's good to see you again," Alexi greets once she's taking the spot next to Harry. 

Harry's eyes are set on the baby Alexi is holding in her lap, and if the manic grin on his face isn't enough of a clue of him wanting to hold the baby, then he's sure his grabby hands will be a clear indicator. "Is this Jaxson?" he questions in a soft, high pitch voice, opening his mouth in a smile when Jaxon turns to look at him. 

"It is," Alexi smiles, gladly handing her son over to Harry and laughing when Harry coos. "He's been a lazy bum all morning"

Harry pouts as he turns Jaxson around in his lap so he can look at the baby. He widens his eyes and starts smiling as he uses his finger to tickle Jaxson's side. "Oh, no. You're not a bum. You're a cutie," he tells the baby, giggling when Jaxons makes a sound. Harry sighs, dreamily, adoring Jaxson for a moment before he's looking at Alexi thoughtfully. "He has your eyes."

Alexi smiles warmly at the comment and is then turning to her baby bag on the ground. She starts shuffling through some of the items inside until she's pulling out a teething ring for Jaxon. Harry raises his eyebrows and slowly turns the baby around in his hold so Jaxson can now face the toy. Upon seeing the item, Jaxon's eyes widen in excitement, and with a little cooing sound coming out of him, he reaches his chubby little arm out to take a hold of it. Harry's heart is melting as he watches Jaxon shove the toy in his mouth, sucking on the ring and closing his eyes as he does so. He even gets slobber all around his mouth, and while Alexi is grimacing at it, Harry simply finds it adorable. Harry keeps holding Jaxson for the remainder of the time. Neither of the teams are out on the field yet so they have a couple of minutes of just chilling. Harry plans to hold Jaxson the entire time, but if Alexi wants him back, then Harry supposes he can hand Jaxson off to her. It is the right thing to do, and well, Harry has a task of taking pictures once the game actually starts. 

Harry continues to bounce his leg where Jaxson is comfortably sitting on it, teething ring still in his mouth, eyes closed as if sucking on a toy is soothing enough for him to fall asleep when Harry feels his phone buzzing in his back pocket. He groans because that means it's probably Louis, which also means the team is about to head out soon, and it also means he should probably give Jaxson back. So he does, sadly, and then is reaching to grab his phone. 

_I saw ur post_

Harry starts giggling at the message when remembering how opposed Louis was to taking a selfie in the first place. 

_I think we look cute._ _I also thought you liked my hair (; it was your doing._

Harry's already blushing, waiting for a response from Louis because he knows Louis is going to say something that makes Harry's insides feel like goo. He doesn't know why he even gets this way in the first place, but anything that has to do with Louis always makes his stomach fill with butterflies and his heart to beat rapidly in his chest.

_it sure was baby ;) love ur hair after we make out.x_   
_I'm about to head out soon x just wanted to say hi real quick._

_Well, Hi Lou (:_

When Harry's sure Louis no longer has his phone in his possession, he puts his own back in his pocket. Now that there is nothing to distract him from the baby, he turns back to Jaxson and starts poking at his belly, making soft _ah_ sounds that make Jaxson giggle like there's no tomorrow. Then Harry inches forward and pretends to blow a raspberry on Jaxson's belly. Jaxson erupts in a loud cackle, and he drops the teething toy from his hand to instead tangle his fingers in Harry's curls. Harry doesn't expect when Jaxson starts to tug on it. He winces and has to pull away, carefully detangling Jaxsons hands from his skull. 

"Ouch, you hurt me," he tells Jaxson, playfully scolding him, raising his eyebrow when Jaxson keeps laughing. Harry glances up at Alexi, curious. 

"Every time we scold him, he laughs. He thinks getting in trouble is funny."

"That's going to be one crazy toddler then," Harry laughs, going back to poke Jaxson's belly because he likes how it makes Jaxson laugh every time. 

"You know, your hair has gotten longer since the last time I saw you," Alexi notes. She sees Jaxon's hand trying to reach out for it again so she quickly grabs him and tries placing a different, smaller toy in his hand. "You deciding to grow it out?"

Harry blushes at the question, not realizing that someone pointing out how much longer his hair seems to be makes him get nervous, defensive even. His hair is like a symbol for him, and he's noticed that the longer his hair is growing out, the curlier his strands are getting. Harry likes it, which is why he hasn't cut it yet, but he also doesn't know how other people will take it. Harry used to get shit for like girly colors and dressing _different,_ but now that he has hair that's getting close to reaching his shoulders, he knows even more comments will start to be made. 

Louis loves it, though. Louis loves the longer hair on Harry and even decided to help him get confident with it. Louis promised that he wouldn't cut his hair if Harry doesn't cut his hair, and the two of them can grow their hair out together. It's really sweet of Louis to do something like that, and honestly, now that Louis' hair is getting just as long as Harry's, Harry kind of doesn't want Louis to ever cut it. Harry digs the whole facial hair and chin length hair that Louis pulls off so nicely. 

"I guess," Harry finally responds, nibbling on his bottom lip anxiously. "Louis and I are growing it out together."

"I like it."

They are interrupted when there's a body stepping up to the wall of their section and a loud voice saying "Harry, did you steal this baby?"

Harry jolts at the sound, but when he turns his head to see who approached him, he softens. "Louis," he breathes out, shaking his head. "You scared me, and no I didn't steal anyones baby. I'm not even holding him."

Louis rolls his eyes and turns to Alexi. "I'm Louis, Harry's boyfriend."

"So I've heard," Alexi smiles. She's able to remove one hand from Jaxson to reach out and shake Louis' hand. "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Alexi Jones."

"Ah, Wes' wife. Nice to finally meet you, too," Louis responds, smiling at Alexi before turning back to Harry. 

"I miss you," Harry pouts. 

"Babe, it's been a few hours."

"So," Harry pouts some more, slapping at Louis' chest. "I missed you. Just say you miss me, too." Louis rolls his eyes, but he doesn't give Harry what he wants. "Fine," Harry grumbles, slouching in the seat. "Shouldn't you be warming up or something? I thought you had a game to play."

Alexi giggles. 

"Oh, I guess I do have a game today," Louis hums thoughtfully, even arching his body around to look at the field where the rest of England's players are still warming up. He makes a sound and turns back to Harry. "Must have completely slipped my mind."

Harry starts laugh and stands up from the seat. He walks up to the wall so he can be closer to Louis and brings his hand up to caress the side of his face. "Maybe you can hurry up and get back to your team so you can finish the game quickly. I'm getting kind of hungry over here."

"Of course, anything for you, sweetheart."

Louis leans in to give Harry a quick kiss on his lips before he's jumping away from the wall and running back to the team. Harry now has a goofy smile on his face as he sits back down next to Alexi. He has his camera ready and takes a couple pictures of Louis and Liam talking to one another, and then soon enough, the line up is being called and the game is beginning. Harry starts snapping the button on the camera left and right. He gets a couple action shots of Liam blocking some goals, which causes the entire England section to grow crazy. But then when Louis gains possession of the ball and scores the first goal of the game, it's like a rave goes off. Every England fan is jumping up and down, hollering as loudly as they can. Everyone is hugging and high giving one another, and while Harry tries to take pictures of Louis' celebration, he finds it hard to do when he's trying to celebrate himself. 

England ends up winning 5 to 0, and Louis scored three of those goals. It was quite amazing. 

After the game ends, Harry follows Alexi out the VIP section to go down towards the tunnels. She ends up taking Jaxson with her in the lounge so they can grab a couple of snacks and some water, but Harry remains out in the hallway for Louis. He waits a couple of minutes before Harry sees Louis walking out the locker room door, and right when they spot each other, Harry smiles widely while Louis practically skips his way towards Harry. 

"How'd you like that game, baby?"

Harry rolls his eyes and wraps his arms around Louis' middle, sighing so happily when he finally gets to tuck his head into Louis' neck. "It was fantastic. I only asked for one goal and you did three. Such an over achiever." 

"I thought you told me to hurry so we can eat?" Louis reminds, laughing as he pulls away, scrunching his nose when he sees how cute Harry looks. Well, he always looks cute. "Are you ready?" he then questions. 

Harry nods his head and gives a quick kiss to Louis mouth. He then steps out of Louis' hold and reaches for his hand to lace their fingers together. Louis ends up taking the lead out the back so they can get into the rental parked in the lot, but right when they step past the doors to get outside, they're immediately bombarded with paparazzi and fans. There's cameras suddenly flashing bright lights and microphones been shoved in their faces. So many people are throwing out brash comments, and other are asking invasive questions. Harry's eyes widen in fear when he sees how crowded the entire area is, and he starts curling his body towards Louis' chest to let Louis walk them through all the people. Harry tries to keep his face hidden by bringing a hand up to his forehead. He can feel Louis' hands tightening on his waist where he's gripping him tightly, and he really tries not to let the paparazzi and the fans bother him too much, but some of the stuff that they're saying and asking makes his heart race a little.

_Louis Tomlinson, how does it feel to score three goals for England?_

_Louis Tomlinson, is Harry Styles your boyfriend?_

_Louis Tomlinson, do you plan to marry Harry?_

_Louis Tomlinson, is it true that your relationship with Harry is fake?  
_

_Louis Tomlinson, is it true that Harry is dating you only for your money?_

Harry tries breathing through the anxious feeling he has growing inside of him, and it seems like the rental car is getting farther and farther away rather than getting closer. All the words that Harry was once hearing starts to fade into a white noise, and all he hears now is a ringing inside of his head. Harry thinks he can hear Louis talking, at least, he can see Louis' lips forming words, but Harry's too much in a headspace to even focus on his surroundings. One second Louis is trying to traffic Harry through all the people crowding him, and then the next, he's safely tucked inside the passenger seat of the car. Harry lets out a slow, shaky breath and looks around the vehicle for a moment, slightly surprised he's in there now. He can see Louis through the front window running around the hood of the car to get in the driver's side, and he tries to figure out how Louis managed to get him in the car so quickly, but when Louis is joining him in the car, Louis is leaning over the console to check on him. 

"Babe, you okay?" Louis questions, hands going to Harry's jaw and tilting his head around to check any damages. There isn't any, but Harry still seems out of focus so it takes him a couple of minutes until he's breathing steady and his heart rate is back to normal. 

"I'm sorry," Harry mutters confusedly. He shakes his head out of Louis' hold and slumps against the cushion of the seat, rubbing at his temples. "I don't know what happened. I just freaked out I guess."

"Well, they shouldn't have been bothering you in the first place."

"Just, thank you," Harry quickly replies. He finally feels himself smiling, and he leans over the console to wrap his arms around Louis' neck. He does his best to give him a hug, but with the console in the way, it's quite difficult. Harry loosens up and tucks his face into Louis' neck, using Louis' cologne and his fresh scent after a shower to make him feel relaxed. "Thank you for getting me out of there."

Louis sighs as he tightens his arms around Harry's body. "I'll always protect you."

"You shouldn't have to," Harry laughs, rolling his eyes as he pulls away from the hug. "I know I act like a twat sometimes -"

"Hey," Louis interrupts. He's frowning as he goes to cup Harry's chin. "You're not a twat. You're just not used to being bombarded by paparazzi or fans. Anyone could easily get overwhelmed with it."

Louis always does have a way with words so Harry gives him a kiss. "Let's go eat," Harry mumbles against Louis' lips, smiling as he presses more, quick little kisses to his face. 

  
  


**//**   
  


**Trending:**

**#LarryIsOverParty**

**@LarryIsFake tweeted:** _I saw Louis' boyfriend have a near panic attack when people were trying to take pictures of them. Like dude, if you're going to date a superstar then act the part._ _#LarryIsOverParty_

 **@Louisgirl tweeted:** _The reporter asked if Harry was only dating Louis because of his money and IT'S ABOUT TIME HARRY GOT CALLED OUT FOR IT #LarryIsOverParty_

_**@WeLoveLT91: tweeted:** I've seen Harry drive around in Louis' car ALL THE TIME. Don't convince me otherwise that he's using Louis. #LarryIsOverParty_

**@LouisBabelinson replied:** _He wears a bunch of exclusive chelsea merch all the time. I even caught a picture of him wearing Louis' watch once ... it's horrible._

 **@ElounorSupporter tweeted:** _Okay ill be the one to say it. Eleanor and Louis remain superior. At least she is genuine._ #LarryIsOverParty  
  
  


//

Louis walks back from ordering food when he sees Harry slouched over in the chair. He slows his steps once he sees Harry's phone pulled up. "What're you reading?" he asks curiously, sitting across the table from Harry and frowning when he sees tears building up in Harry's eyes. Harry blinks and looks up, wiping underneath his nose. "Babe, why are you crying? What the heck is going -" Louis pauses when Harry hands his phone over to him, and right when he reads what's on the screen, which is a bunch of hurtful tweets, he groans. 

Fuck, this is exactly why Louis never wanted Harry to get a twitter account. 

"Don't read this," Louis grumbles. He exits out the app and puts Harry's phone face down on the table. Harry rolls his eyes and uses the napkin to wipe all the tears away. "I'm serious, babe. These people like to talk shit because they have nothing better to do. They have weird fantasies, and when i don't live them out, they start trash talking online. I don't understand it, but they don't know how amazing you are for me."

Louis reaches across the table to grab on to Harry's hand. He laces their fingers together and gives a gentle to squeeze to see Harry finally cracking a small smile. 

"I'm fine," Harry laughs breathlessly. "Maybe I should delete my Twitter."

Louis shakes his head. "You already have one. There's no point now in deleting it."

"But these people -"

"Don't mean anything, Haz," Louis interrupts. "You shouldn't let what they say get to you. They're not important."

"It's hard to ignore the comments though."

"Have you thought about replying to them? Shutting them up with your lovely whitt?"

Harry cracks a small smile. "I don't know," he sighs, rolling his eyes. "I feel stupid for thinking about saying anything. If I get sad reading what they have to say, then I don't think I'm strong enough to stand up for myself."

Louis frowns as he brings Harry's hand to his lips, pressing light kisses across his knuckles. He never really intended this conversation to get so _sad._ He just won an England game, they're going to the FIFA tournament in 2014, and Harry picked this place out because it's known for Sarmale, a famous Moldova dish composed of stuffed cabbage rolls. It's supposed to be a great day so Louis intends on switching the mood. 

"Maybe if you spend more time with me my confident sass will rub off on you." 

When Louis sees the devilish tilt of Harry's mouth, he knows Harry's going to come back with something whitty. Which, that's exactly what he wants. 

"How about your ass?" is what Harry questions, to Louis' surprise. He definitely wasn't expecting that to come out. "Will that rub off on me, too?"

Louis breathes a little better now that he sees all traces of sadness off of Harry's face. He's smiling now. Even giggling like his joke is the more hilarious thing in the world. Louis only finds himself laughing because Harry's adorable, and his jokes are so lame. 

"I'll rub it on you. How about that?" Louis waggles his eyebrows, and Harry looses his smile, rolling his eyes instead and slumping back in his chair, raising his eyebrow, clearly unamused. Louis giggles again. "I'm just messing with you. You know I adore your cute lil bum."

"You're a child," Harry laughs, idly kicking his leg out to hit Louis' shin. He ends up keeping his boot there and wrapping it around Louis' ankle, smiling as he glances back at his phone. "Anyway, do you think I should respond to any of those tweets? I just hate how I let people walk all over me, and in the end, I'm always the one upset. I do want to say something, but I'm not sure what to say."

Louis hums, thoughtfully. He's not really sure what the best thing for Harry to do is. Personally, Louis can easily brush aside what is being said about him on Twitter, but then again, he's had years of learning how to not let it affect him. Harry, on the other hand, is new to Twitter. He's new to this side of fame. Harry isn't used to the camera, and the abrasive questions, the harsh comments, and all the people who are constantly tracking his life. It makes sense that he's getting emotional and feeling so clueless - shit, that's how Louis felt at first. Except, Louis really never responded to the tweets. Louis doesn't care enough about what other people think to actually say something about it. If anything, Louis doesn't want to give any of those people the satisfaction that he actually reads what they wrote so he doesn't think Harry should do the same. The two of them are happy. They are together genuinely, and no person behind a computer screen could ever change that. Louis doesn't want his relationship with Harry to draw unnecessary attention to Harry so if after years of being silent finally brings him to have to say something, then he will. He'll do that for Harry. 

"I actually have an idea," Louis mumbles after giving it much thought. He pulls his phone out, shows it to Harry, wiggles his eyebrows again, and looks down at his screen to start typing something out. 

Harry raises his eyebrow, but he remains silent while Louis does whatever it is that he does. 

**@LouisTomlinson tweeted:** _Hey babe I got a shit ton of quid for you. Wanna go out and by clothes for me just so you can wear it? **@HarryStyles**_

  
Harry's phone pings with a new notification after Louis finishes what he's doing. Harry glances at Louis briefly and sees that he's smiling like a fool so Harry grabs his phone to see what it was he exactly did. Harry rolls his eyes at Louis' cheeky smile and grabs his phone so he can read what it is. He starts shaking his head once seeing the tweet Louis sent.

"Louis," Harry sighs, laughing a little. 

Louis shrugs, raising his eyebrow, smirking. "I'm just turning it into a joke. A lot of celeb couples do this shit," he admits. Louis straightens up in his chair and leans across the table to grab Harry's hand again, pulling the boy closer so their faces can be inches apart. "Look, I'm only doing this because I don't care what people think about us, and I want you to not care either. People always bash on anyone in the starlight, and once they realize I'm serious about you, they'll move on. You're a great boyfriend, Harry. Just listen to what I have to say. It should be enough."

Harry's heart starts to swell, and he's back to blushing. 

"You're such a sap," Harry teases, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Louis' lips. 

Next thing they know, both of their phones are pinging with another notification. When they pull back to check what it is, Louis starts laughing at the new incoming tweet. "Liam always comes in clutch," he giggles, reading what Liam tweeted.

**@LouisTomlinson tweeted:** _Hey babe I got a shit ton of quid for you. Wanna go out and by clothes for me just so you can wear it? **@HarryStyles**_

 **@LiamPayne replied:** _Hey what about me? I have a couple shirts he can wear that proves we're friends. It's not fair you have this unfair boyfriend advantage (;_

Harry's easing up as he places his phone back on the table, smiling and breathing a little better now that he sees Louis and Liam taking the piss out of everything. "Okay, fine. You're right. I'll ignore it."

"See, it's about time you realize I'm always right."

Harry rolls his eyes and flings his wad up straw wrapper in Louis' direction. He almost forgets that they are at a restaurant and waiting for their food to arrive. It's crazy how occupied his mind became with all these incoming tweets, but now that he's able to brush it aside, he feels better, and he can now live in the moment and enjoy some Sarmale he intends on eating. Trying new cuisine has always been Harry's favorite part about traveling. 

"Did you just throw paper at me?" Louis scolds when the wrapper hits his forehead. He picks it up and flicks it back at Harry, smiling when it falls down the collar of his shirt. "How old are you supposed to be, _Hazmasta_?"

Harry giggles. "I thought we were supposed to be young adults, but some of us act more like a child than the other." 

"Oh, hush up. We shouldn't be arguing. Today is a special day."

Harry hums, raising his eyebrows. "Oh, is it?"

"Do you remember?"

"It's the second of September," Harry replies slowly, tilting his head to the side when Louis begins nodding his head crazily, like it's the most exciting news he's heard today. Harry laughs a little. 

"Yeah, babe. It's our one year - the first time we met each other - anniversary."

Harry feels his entire heart melt knowing Louis considers the first time they met to be anniversary worthy. He honestly could start crying if he isn't so damn endeared with Louis right now. 

"Do you remember?" Louis asks again, seeing a beautiful blush starting to coat Harry's cheeks. "I think my first words to you were - _who the hell are you_?"

Harry bites his lip. "You also asked me if a cat caught my tongue," he reminiscences with a sigh, shaking his head fondly as Louis' foot comes out to wrap around his ankle. Harry smiles and traps Louis' shoe there with his shins. "You were such a dick head that day."

Louis preens. "See, and it only took you a year to finally call me that. Such a great day."

"Yeah," Harry sighs happily. "It _is_ a great day."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

♥ **423,892 likes**

 **LouisTomlinson:** It's been a year since I met this pretty lil thing (; x 

_View all 100,583 comments_

**HarryStyles commented:** My lovely dick head x

**AnneStyles replied:** Language. 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** It only took u a year :/

//

Harry and Louis get back late Sunday night from Moldova so Harry ends up staying at Louis' place again. He has to get up relatively early in the morning to get to his photography course, and then he plans on heading over to Stamford Bridge to have lunch with Louis and maybe help Matt take some pictures. Since Harry's homework assignment for the photography class is to provide their own taken pictures, he wants to use some of the ones he took of Chelsea and of England. Harry thinks he can win his instructor over with those shots because he took a lot of cool action photos of Louis and Liam playing in Moldova, and then he also took a bunch of random pictures of the country. 

When Harry and Louis finally make it home from the airport, they go straight to bed and crash on top of the mattress. They don't even have the energy to cuddle up with one another, but when Harry does wake up the next morning for his classes, he smiles at knowing that he's being spooned by Louis. Harry tries to enjoy a couple of minutes of being held by his boyfriend, even snuggling backwards into Louis' chest so every inch of their body is pressed, however, when Harry glances at the digital clock on the nightstand, he sees that he needs to leave very soon or he'll be late to photography. With a groan, Harry carefully detangles himself out of Louis' arms and rolls off the bed to stand on his feet. He turns around to face Louis and watches as his face scrunches up before his arms are wrapping around a pillow. Harry smiles and leans down to kiss his forehead, and then he's padding off into the bathroom so he can get ready quickly. 

Once Harry is dressed, he tip toes his way back into the bedroom to see Louis rolling on his side and slowly cracking his eyes open. "Babe?" he grumbles. 

"Go back to sleep, Lou," Harry whispers as he walks to the edge of the bed. He sits down and starts brushing his fingers through Louis' fringe and smiles when his eyes close. "I have to go to class."

"Stay. Cuddles."

Harry smiles. "I can't."

"You barely got any sleep."

"I'm fine."

Louis groans and opens his eyes again, blinking up at Harry. "Get some coffee. I'll send you money."

"You don't have to do that, honey. I'm fine. I'll meet you for lunch, okay?"

Louis groans, again. He's definitely not a morning person. 

"Fuck, I forgot we have practice today."

"I know," Harry sighs, leaning down to press a lazy kiss to Louis' lips. "So get some more sleep. I'll see you later."

Louis starts cuddling back into his pillow so Harry finds his cue to finally leave the flat. He hurriedly gets to the Range Rover and quickly gets on the road so he isn't too late to his classes. Harry knew Louis was right when he said they barely got any sleep. They both got back to the flat around three in the morning, and then Harry had to wake up four hours later, so Harry is rolling on four hours of sleep right now. He does take Louis advice though in getting some coffee. He stops by the closest coffee shop to get himself an espresso and a breakfast croissant to settle him for half a day until he meets Louis for lunch. Harry pulls up into the parking lot of the Photography Institution with a few minutes to spare after getting food. He getting out the vehicle, grabbing his camera bag, and walking towards the front entrance when he sees Jake suddenly walking in the same direction from where he parked. Harry's holding his breath the second he spots the boy and tries his hardest to remain incognito, but the second the both of them are stepping on to the courtyard, Jake catches his eye almost immediately. Harry groans when Jake starts walking over to him. 

"Hey, Harry. It's good to see you," Jake greets, casually walking alongside Harry. "I heard you helped Niall move in to the flat. Sorry I wasn't there to see you."

Harry isn't sorry at all. 

"Oh, it's no problem. We just moved and then talked for a bit."

"That's cool," Jake hums, opening the front door for Harry and motioning for him to walk through first. Harry chews the inside of his cheek and goes inside. "So how was your weekend? I tried asking Ni if you wanted to come over for drinks, but he said you weren't here?"

This is perfect. This is the chance where Harry can emphasize he has a boyfriend and is no way near interested in Jake. He's hoping it works, and Harry's kind of upset that the love bite he had on his neck has faded otherwise he would be showing that off as well. 

"Yeah, I went to Moldova with Louis. England was playing for some qualification game, and I got to tag along."

Jake's eyes widen. "Louis Tomlinson," He hums thoughtfully, twisting his lips to the side. "That's pretty cool you just up and went to another country like that. 

"Well, I still kind of take pictures with Chelsea so I was taking pictures of Lou and Liam while I was there."

"Lou," Jake mumbles under his breath, not intending for Harry to hear, but of course, Harry hears it. It sounds like he isn't too fond of the nickname. Harry tries not to think too much of it, and he's hoping that as he approaches the door to his class, that Jake will feel the need to walk away, but he doesn't. Jake continues to walk with him, and it's driving Harry crazy. "Well, maybe another day you can stop by the flat," he says more clearly. 

"Yeah, maybe. Ni, will probably like that."

"Yeah, me, too."

Harry sucks in a big breath and stops at his door to turn and face Jake. He tries to think of something to say to polity decline any and every intention Jake has in trying to pursue something with Harry, but Harry comes up short. He can't think of anything. Harry mentioned Louis, but he doesn't know what else he can do to prove that he doesn't even want to be friends with Jake. It would be different if Jake's crush wasn't so obvious, but it is, and Harry isn't too keen on it. 

Thankfully, he's saved when a student passes by them to go inside the classroom so Harry uses his out and follows that student, not even glancing back at Jake to say goodbye. 

After Harry's classes, he heads over to Stamford Bridge. He knows Louis and Liam only have half a practice today since they just came back from playing in Moldova, but he also knows Louis is probably exhausted and tired. Harry drives by the closest McDonalds and orders them both a meal and is then driving over to the stadium so he can meet Louis for lunch before he has to take pictures for the remainder of the practice. When Harry gets there, he flashes his pass to the guards and then walks down the tunnel until he finds the player lounge. Harry pushes the door open and sees Louis splayed out on one of the couches with a pillow clutched in his arms and his eyes closed. He smiles and happily skips inside, waking Louis up by setting the food on the coffee table and then laying carefully on top of Louis' body. It's like Louis has a sixth sense because without opening his eyes, his arms wrap around Harry's back and snuggles closer to him. 

"Hi, baby," Louis greets, nose burying into Harry's hair, sleepily grumbling. 

"Hi, Lou," Harry whispers as he presses a kiss to Louis' ear. "Tired?" He feels Louis nod against the side fo his head. "Me, too."

"Let's nap then."

Harry giggles a little. "I have to take pictures, though."

With a groan, Louis pulls his face from Harry's neck and looks up at Harry, eyes open and brows furrowed. "You need to rest, love. You've been up for a long time, and you haven't gotten enough sleep."

"I'm fine, babe. I promise. It seems like you're the one who's more exhausted than me."

"Let's just go home," Louis suggests. He doesn't even realized the slip up until he sees Harry's eyes widen, and he quickly tries covering it up by coughing. "Back to my flat, yeah?" he attempts to save, not entirely sure how Harry feels about referring to his flat as _their_ home even though it does feel more like a home now that Harry stays there all the damn time. 

Harry contemplates. "Maybe."

"If I kiss you silly, will you come back with me and cuddle for the rest of the day?"

"You're starting to convince me."

"I'll even let you be the little spoon."

Harry starts grinning. "You've sold me Mr. Tomlinson."

Louis smiles widely, and with his strong hold around Harry's waist, he turns the both of them around on the couch until he's pinning Harry underneath him. Harry starts giggling when Louis' face is right above his, feeling Louis' hand creeping underneath his shirt until Louis' warm palms are pressing against his back. Harry arches up into Louis' body and rubs their noses together before he's pressing a long, awaited kiss to Louis' lips. Then it's like Harry can't get enough, and he pressing in for more, moaning, breathing deeply out his nose when Louis starts to lick his way inside his mouth. 

It only sucks that the kiss really can't lead anywhere when Louis' teammates barge into the room and start catcalling at the both of them, causing them to abruptly separate with a groan. Well, looks like Harry really is going back to Louis' flat now. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

♥ **110 likes**

 **HarryStyles:** My cuddle bug x

**NiallHoran commented:** Don't you think its a bit strange you took a pic of him sleeping mate?

**HarryStyles replied:** Its perfectly normal (; especially when he looks this cute 


	17. Chapter 17

Louis' laptop is on the table. It's on the table, and it's unlocked. Harry can see it from where he's sitting on top of the kitchen counter, a bowl of cereal in his hand and a cup of tea next to his body. Harry can see the background Louis has on his screen, it's a picture of Harry wearing Chelsea clothes, and it's the same one Louis has as his home screen wall paper, but none of that really means anything because all Harry can focus on right now is that Louis' laptop is open for access, and Louis is currently in the shower. Now, it seems like Niall's words of Louis potentially watching porn is circulating in Harry's mind, and Harry is more than curious to actually check and see if it's true. Harry just wants to know. He simply wants to know if Louis does watch this stuff, and he wants to know what kind of porn Louis is in to. Harry _needs_ to know because it's been a pressing matter in the back of his head, and he _needs_ to know just what his boyfriend does behind his back whenever he feels the need to get off. 

With a sigh, Harry sets the bowl of cereal down next to his cup of tea and hops off the counter. He arches his head to the side just to make sure Louis isn't about to walk out. When he still hears the shower running and sees the bedroom door shut, Harry knows it's his shot to check. Harry walks up to the laptop and runs his finger along the mousepad to make sure the screen doesn't go dark. Harry stands there for a moment and really contemplates if he should actually invade Louis' privacy like this. Harry knows its wrong, and he would be upset if Louis ever snuck around on his laptop as well, but then again, if Louis really cared all that much, then he wouldn't have left his laptop open like this. Plus, it's just looking on the internet. It's not like Harry plans on looking through his files and genuinely snooping through his stuff so technically, Harry isn't invading anything. 

Okay, Harry convinced himself. 

Harry clicks on the internet button and watches as Google appears on the screen. He scrolls the mouse into the top corner of the webpage and looks at the history page to see if there is anything suspicious. He doesn't see anything at first, but when he shows the history for the past week, he sees a couple we pages titled _Men Hub._ Harry swallows and clicks the first one on the history list, nibbling on his bottom lip when a webpage suddenly pops up on the screen. There's a video pulled Louis was apparently watching on this website. Harry swallows and hesitantly presses play, immediately upon seeing two men laying down on the bed kissing. There's loud sounds of their lips smacking and the wet sound of their hands jacking each other off. Harry's eyes widen, and he quickly turns the volume down, briefly glancing at the door again before looking at the screen. 

Nothing much really happens other than their kiss getting heated so Harry tries skipping through the video until he sees one man laying on his stomach with his knees drawn up to his chest. The other man is behind the one laying down, and his hands are spreading the one's ass cheeks apart with his face buried right there. Harry has a feeling he knows what's going on, he's not completely naive, but he really isn't too keen on seeing a man lick another man out so he exits out the page and closes the laptop, breathing heavily and slumping against the counter behind him when he realizes his boyfriend watches man on man porn. Who knows what the other _Men Hub_ pages lead to, but Harry doesn't have much time to really wonder because Louis is walking out the bedroom. 

"You ready, babe?" He asks, heading to join Harry in the kitchen and reaching to grab his wallet and keys. 

Right, Harry forgot they were going shopping today with Niall. 

"Yeah," Harry swallows, trying to push the images of the rimming video out his head and trying not to think too much about Louis watching gay porn to get off. Harry smiles and puts his dishes in the sink, walking over to grab Louis' hand. "Let's go."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 120 likes**

**HarryStyles:** Day out with my boo xx

**NiallHoran commented:** I like how Im clearly a third wheel 

**LouisTomlinson commented:** ur cute bby xx (; 

//

"Jesus, Harry," Niall's gasps when he follows Harry through the store, a fancy store that Louis had dragged the both of them to. Louis was somewhere off looking at shoes while Harry and Niall survey the blouses. Niall reaches out to touch one of them, gasping when he sees the price and dropping the blouse from his hands. "This place looks like it came out the Queen's vagina."

First off, they're at the store because Louis needs a new outfit, and apparently Harry does as well, for tonight. Chelsea is having a banquet for all the players on the team, and it's a special occasion where the Coach presents awards and all the players can bring their families and dates to have a good time. So rightfully so, Louis wants to take Harry with him, which calls for a a fancy shopping day. And well, that's why Harry and Niall are in this store. This fancy store that has expensive clothes, two story levels, a giant chandelier above the cashiers, and marble flooring. It's pretentious, and Harry feels slightly out of place. 

"Niall, that doesn't even make any sense," Harry responds with a frown. 

He stops at one rack of blouses that have various designs printed on them. There are a few with flamingos, others with palm trees, some with stripes or polka dots. Honestly, Harry likes the style, and he likes the material, but when he checks the price on each one of them, he nearly chokes on his spit and steps away. Harry huffs and continues walking through the different racks of clothings. Everything looks eye appealing for Harry, but the cost on the clothes keeps Harry from actually grabbing anything. 

"I just can't believe Louis shops here," Niall hums, raising his eyebrow when he sees a frilly, ruffly blouse that costs more than his rent. He laughs and walks away. "This place is fucking expensive."

Harry agrees with a tilt of his head, and he ends up stopping at another rack of blouses to admire them. It's more with fancy patterns and designs, and Harry's sighs dreamingly because he really likes how they look. He doesn't necessarily want them for the banquet he's going to, he mainly wants to add them to his wardrobe and wear them around freely. 

"Oh, I need to tell you something," Harry mindlessly says as he continues looking through the clothes. When he hears Niall grunt in response, he continues. "I searched Lou's laptop," he admits. 

Niall abruptly stops, gasping. "Harry, you dirty little snooper," he teases, scooting closer to Harry and practically pressing himself to his back. "What did you find? Anything juicy?"

"I saw a video," Harry whispers, like he's afraid Louis might hear him. "He visited _Men Hub_ a couple times - gay porn, but the most recent video he watched was a man getting rimmed."

"Damn, he's one kinky bastard."

"Harry, babe, did you find anything?" Louis is asking as he walks over to join them. He has a couple of clothes draped over his arms, but when he sees that Harry and Niall have nothing, he furrows his eyebrows together. Harry quickly straightens up and subtly nudges Niall's elbow to keep their conversation a secret between the two of them. Louis doesn't really look suspicious, more so concerned, so Harry thinks he's in the clear with Louis not knowing about his snooping adventures.

"No," Harry sighs, turning around to face Louis, not entirely sure how he's supposed to tell Louis that these clothes are way out of his budgeting how him watching porn kind of bothers him. Harry may honestly have to fake it, regarding the clothes, and then sneak off to a donation center to see if they have any hand-me-down blouses. "What did you say this place is called?" Harry ends up asking, scowling when Niall holds a pair of glittery boots up. Harry shakes his head and ignores him. 

"It's Yves Saint Laurent," Louis responds, idly looking through the blouses around, humming when he finds a blue, silky one. 

Harry gasps when he hears the name and looks past Louis to catch Niall's eyes, both sharing bewildered looks. Harry scoffs and turns to Louis. "Lou, I'm sorry. I don't think I can afford this place. Most of these blouses cost more than my entire life."

Louis rolls his eyes and grabs the blouse off the rack. "Just find an outfit, Haz," he mumbles, twisting the blouse back and forth in his hand before putting it back on the rack. "Don't worry about paying for it. I invited you to the dinner."

"But -"

"Harry, just find an outfit, _please_ ," Louis practically begs. 

Harry huffs and walks past Louis to join where Niall is looking at shoes. He huffs again, this time obnoxiously, and grabs the closest blouse off the rack to look at, furrowing his brows together when he reads the price and frustratedly shoves the blouse back on the rack. Harry steps back and crosses his arms over his chest, twisting his lips to the side and glancing over to where Louis is looking for more clothes. 

"I mean, if he's going to pay for your clothes, you might as well look hot," Niall suggest, smiling a little when Harry glances at him. He even points to the shelf of shoes behind his body that Harry's eyes go wide for. "Maybe he can watch you instead of the porn videos."

Harry ignores the last comment and awes as he pushes Niall away from the shelf to pick up the tan boots that are just calling his name. He runs a delicate finger along the fabric and then running it across the small heel in the back. Harry lets out a slow breath as he turns the boot in every direction so he can get a perfect view of all the details. He then checks the tag, wanting to exactly know what the style of these shoes are - _Wyatt Ankle Boots_. Harry's never worn boots like these before, but he knows these boots can pair with just about anything in this store, and he absolutely adores them. Harry can see himself wearing them practically every day, and he knows these would be a perfect fit for whenever he dresses in his photography clothes. Harry's in love. 

"I want these," Harry finally voices. He turns around to show Niall the shoes, eyes practically glistening as if they are looking at diamonds. 

"I like them," Niall agrees. "You should get the black ones as well. I think both suit your style, but these tan ones can be paired with a nice blazer."

Harry raises his eyebrows, glancing at Niall with a snort. "Since when do you know fashion?"

"I've always known fashion, Haz."

Harry rolls his eyes, ignoring the comment, again, and grabbing the price tag on the boot to check it. He had a feeling that it would be expensive, considering they are in a fancy, name brand store, but when he actually sees what the price is, he feels like the breath gets knocked out of his chest. 

"Over two thousand," Harry gawks, shaking his head and moving to put the shoes back on the shelf. Niall frowns and quickly grabs them from Harry. "I can't let Louis pay for something like that."

"Harry, you're sweet, but he offered. What's so wrong about it?"

Harry chews on the corner of his lip. "I'm not his charity case," he nearly belts, quickly glancing around to make sure no one hears him. He's in the clear, and he can see Louis on the other side of the store now looking at trousers. Harry breathes out in relief and steps closer to Niall, quieting his voice. "Look, I don't like when he spends money on me like this. I get judge by literally _everyone_ , and it makes me feel so dirty. I'm not with him for his money, and I'm perfectly capable of buying my own stuff. You know, he's not my sugar daddy. I don't want him to feel obligated to spent thousands on me. It's crazy."

"I get it, Haz, but Louis doesn't think like that. You should care what he thinks over everyone else," Niall explains to him, which, that sounds exactly like what Louis has said to him before. It makes him roll his eyes because Harry _knows_ he shouldn't care, but it's still easier said than done. "He wants to spoil you because he likes you. It's how he shows it. He does the same thing for his family. Just take a little breath, find an outfit, and repay him with a bomb ass blow job."

Haryr rolls his eyes, but he reluctantly agrees. "Fine," he huffs, grabbing the boots from Niall and tucking them under his arm. 

"Perfect. Now, let me go find you an outfit that'll make Louis never want to look at other men doing it."

Harry starts cackling as Niall grabs his wrist to drag him around the store again. This time, when they are looking for clothes, they forgo checking the price. They know no matter what happens, Louis is going to end up paying, with or without an argument, and Harry really does want to put Louis' money to good use. If he's going to let Louis pay for his outfit for the banquet, then he wants to make sure what he gets is good enough to make Louis' mouth water. So, Niall had a good idea with that. They manage to find a couple of outfits that Harry feels relatively comfortable with. They settle with a pair of black trousers and black skinnies, two button up blouses, and two blazers. Harry and Niall have their hands stuffed with clothes and a pair of boots when they find Louis lingering around the register, evidently ready to pay for everything. Upon seeing both the boys approaching, Louis smiles. 

"You guys ready?"

Harry nods his head, smiling a little, but his smile soon turns into a frown when he sees that Louis already has a shopping bag in his hand. "You already bought clothes?"

"I did," Louis preens. He doesn't bother to respond further about what he bought and ends up turning to Niall. "Did you find anything you like?"

Harry's eyes widen at the question because ... _what?_ Did Louis intend on Niall buying stuff as well? Harry knows Louis is about to drop over thousands of dollars on just his clothes alone, he can't really believe that Louis is willing to spend more, let alone on Niall. It's crazy. 

"Nah, mate. I'm good. I just came here to doll Harry up," Niall responds calmly, the complete opposite to how Harry is currently feeling. 

Harry really can't believe anything as Louis and Niall walk up to the register for the cashier to start ringing up their clothes. Harry doesn't realize he's still frozen in place until Louis is turning his head towards him and motioning for him to join. Harry furrows his brows and walks closer, slowly, hesitantly, and places his clothes and pair of shoes on top of the counter. He then makes a rash decision to check the number that pops up on the screen, and he feels his entire insides get sucked into a vacuum when he sees the price well over a couple thousand after only ringing a few of his outfits. 

_Fuck_ , Harry can pass out right now. 

"Baby," Louis whispers, stepping next to Harry and wrapping an arm around his waist. He tucks his head into Harry's shoulder and noses along the column of his neck. "I can tell you're thinking too much about this. It's okay. I offered, remember?"

Harry swallows then nods. 

After the last item is run up, which is the pair of boots, it totals up to have too many zeros. Harry tenses at the price and has to look away, taking in a deep, heavy breath when Louis easily hands his credit card over to the cashier. _Gosh_ , Harry hates feeling like this. He hates that Louis is spending this much on him, and he hates that all he can feel is regret and guilt. Harry wishes he can just be thankful and move on, which he is, but he can't move on from it. He feels so dirty and wrong, and he also feels so useless with how little he contributes to anything. Harry never pays for the dates. He never pays for gas. He never pays for food or gifts. He also never pays for any of the travel. Harry does nothing, and he doesn't even give Louis sex so what the fuck does he even do? He lazes around while his boyfriend gets off on porn, that's what he does.

Once Louis gets his card back, he and Niall grab all the bags and head out the store. Since Harry is kind of a bump in the road, still in a complete head space about the money, Louis has to drag him out the store with an arm around his waist. When they finally step out into the fresh air, Harry breathes out heavily and steps out of Louis' hold, running his fingers through his hair and trying to just _calm down._

"Harry, it's okay. I promise. Please, stop worrying about it," Louis says desperately. He sets the bags he has around his wrist on the ground by Niall and steps closer to Harry. He cups the sides of his face and tilts his head so they're looking at each other. 

"I'm sorry, Lou. It's just - It's _a lot_ of money. You shouldn't be spending all that on me. It makes me feel sick to my stomach."

"You're sweet, baby." Louis leans in to press a chaste kiss to Harry's lips. "But I wanted to do this. I wanted to pay for you. I like doing this stuff for people I care about, and I care about you a lot. I know you're not used to it, may not ever get used to it, but it's what I do. You're perfect, okay, and I appreciate that you're worried about my money, but I promise everything is good. Don't worry your pretty little head about anything."

Harry sighs. "I know you're right. You're always right." He smiles a little, now loosening up. "Thank you for the clothes. It means a lot to me that you bought everything."

"Of course, sweetheart."

Louis presses another kiss to Harry's lips and walks back to grab the bags off the ground. His free hand reaches out to hold one of Harry's, and the three of them begin walking down the sidewalk to get back to their vehicle. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 537,490 likes**

**LouisTomlinson:** Hot date tonight x 

_View all 230,784 comments_

 **LiamPayne commented:** GOALS

**JayTomlinson commented:** You boys look amazing

**AnneStyles replied:** Love it.. 

**HarryStyles commented:** I look mad ): 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** u look beautiful x

//

Harry can only take so much of the upperclass shit in a day because _fuck_... The banquet that the Chelsea program is hosting is in a grand ballroom of some fancy hotel in downtown London. It even has a valet out front, and that's how Harry knows he's on the side of London he can't even afford to drive to. It's crazy how rich everything looks, even from the hallway of the hotel they are currently standing in. The door to the banquet room is a mahogany wood that has engraved geometric shapes Harry is mesmerized by. The floors are a pristine marble, and the walls are a soft, paneled wood. There are fancy lights hung on the walls, and a long mirror running along the ceiling. Harry briefly glances up to look at himself, and even from the distance of where he's standing to the ceiling of the room, he can definitely tell there is sweat on his face. 

_Fuck_ , why does Harry act this way around fancy things?

"Hey, babe," Louis says in the midst of Harry's panic, turning around to face him and cupping the sides of his face. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way. Thought you should know."

Harry feels a warm blush coating his cheeks, and now that Louis has taken his mind off of worrying, he can now see that Louis looks just as amazing. Brilliant, even. 

"I think you look better."

Louis hums, leaning in to rub his nose against Harry's. "Not possible," he whispers before kissing Harry's lips. 

They pull back from one another after the kiss, and Louis reaches down to grab Harry's hand. He pushes open the big, mahogany door and unveils the giant ballroom where most of the team is already grabbing food or finding tables. The two stand at the door for a moment to admire everything around. There's a stage up front where the coach and the mangers will be talking. There are a bunch of cloth covered tables scattered around the room that are filling up with players and their families. To the left there is a giant buffet section with an open bar at the end. Harry raises his eyebrows, soon glancing over to where a couple of the players are kissing other boys, presumably their boyfriends, and Harry feels slightly better knowing Louis isn't the only gay (kind of like the porn Louis watches) one on the team. 

"Well, you're not the only one with a boyfriend," Harry notes with a small laugh. 

Louis hums, hand going to the dip in Harry's back and guiding him over to the buffet table. "True, but I'm the only one with the hottest date."

Harry tilts his head at Louis and catches his wink. "Are you trying to get laid Tommo?" Harry teases, biting his lip as he grabs a clean plate from the stack. 

"I'm tryna get something."

Harry rolls his eyes and begins going down the buffet line to fill his plate with food. Louis follows behind him, and once they get what they desire, they stop by the bar to grab a quick drink and head out to find an open table they can sit at. Louis easily spots Liam after weaving through some of the tables. Liam even stands up and waves him over to the two open seats he has next to him. Louis smiles and leads Harry over there to join Liam and the girl he brought as his date. 

"Hey, Lou - Harry," Liam greets. He pats Louis' back and then gives Harry a hug. He takes his seat afterwards and wraps his arms around his date, drawing her into his side. "Harry, I don't think you've met my girlfriend, but this is Danielle."

Harry turns to shake the girls hand, but coming upon who she really is, he draws back with a gasp, hands covering his mouth. "Holy shit - _fuck_."

Louis cackles. "Harry, what the hell?"

"I'm sorry," Harry mutters to the table. He removes his hands from his mouth and tries reaching out to shake Danielle's hand again, practically gushing and fangirling while Danielle sits there politely with an amused smile on her face. "You're just - You're _the_ Danielle Peazer. I saw the Christmas Musical you were in a couple years ago with my sister. Wow, she would be so jealous if she knew I was having dinner with you."

"Well, I'm blessed to have you as a fan," she smiles. 

"And I can't believe you're sitting right in front of me."

"Babe, don't forget you came here with me," Louis chimes in, sounding slightly playful and slightly jealous. He even wraps an arm around Harry's shoulders to pull him into his side, pressing an obnoxious kiss to the side of his cheek. 

Harry giggles. "I'm sorry. It's just Danielle - Fucking - Peazer."

"So you've said."

"And I have Harry - Fucking - " Danielle pauses and leans closer to Liam. "What's his last name?" she whispers. 

"Styles."

Danielle hums. "And I have Harry - Fucking - Styles sitting right in front of me. Looking as dashing as can be," she states more clearly. 

"Okay," Liam frowns, pulling Danielle closer to him. "I didn't realize my girlfriend and your boyfriend would get along so easily," he says, mainly to Louis. 

Louis agrees with a nod. "I know," he huffs, definitely more playful now. "If I would've known my boyfriend would be all over _Danielle - Fucking Peazer_ \- " Harry and Danielle giggle. "- Then I probably would've made Harry dress like a bum."

"Please, he'd still be gorgeous," Danielle admits, winking at Harry.

Their conversation is interrupted when the Coach is walking on to the stage talk into the microphone. Everyone inside the ballroom grows silent to hear what he has to say, and in the mean time, Louis is placing his hand on Harry's thigh to give himself comfort. Louis has been up for a couple awards this season already, and a few have already been announced. Louis is anxious to know if he won any or not, and Coach likes to hold banquets like these so everyone can enjoy and celebrate all the player's success. The Coach begins talking about the excellent season they have been having so far. He mentions some of the great moments that have happened like Liam's solid blocks, Louis' fantastic and clutch goals, Leevi and Ronni's great steals, and Stan's wonderful defending skills. Then when it gets to the awards part, Louis finds himself digging his fingers into Harry's thigh, but Harry ends up removing Louis from his leg and instead lacing their fingers together so Louis can squeeze his hand rather than his thigh.

The Coach presents a couple of small awards to Liam and another player on the team. He presents some to Leevi and Ronni. Then he gets to Louis' awards, and Louis gets presented with the _Captains Award_ and two _Premier League Player of the Month_ awards. It ends up being a great night, and after all the awards are announced, they end up going back to Louis' flat. They get in around ten, and Louis insists on Harry spending the night because he's too tired to take Harry to his house, and it's already late enough for him to just stay. Both are really compelling arguments, and Harry really doesn't need much convincing.

"Let's make a cup of tea then head to bed, yeah?" Louis suggest. 

Harry nods and follows Louis into the kitchen. Louis goes to the stove to get the kettle set up, and Harry sits up on the bar top in the middle of the kitchen. He sees Louis' laptop is still there, opened but locked, and he shuts it so he's not reminded that Louis watches men getting rimmed by other men. He gulps and diverts his eyes back to Louis, smiling as he watches him from behind before continuing to look around the kitchen, just giving himself something to do in the mean time. Harry's eyes end up landing on a pile of mail at the corner of the countertop he is sitting on, and he reaches over to grab the pile when he sees a sports magazine on top with Louis' picture on the front. 

"Babe, you have a lot of mail," Harry notes casually. 

"I know. I need to go through it. Bills and shit." Louis sighs and turns away from the kettle once he has it burning. He walks up to Harry as Harry sets the magazine next to him so Louis can walk in between his legs. Harry smiles and wraps his arms around Louis' neck, leaning down to rub their noses together. "I'm going to change real quick. Watch the kettle, will you?"

Harry responds with a hum and presses a kiss to Louis' lips. Louis then steps back, pats Harry's thigh, and walks towards his bedroom to disappear behind the door. Harry watches him off with a smile, and once he's alone, he reaches for the pile of mail again. He figures he can help Louis out by organizing what's magazines, junk mail and bills so he starts sorting everything out. He gets about halfway through the pile when all of a sudden he sees an envelope with _London Institute of Photography_ across the middle. Harry drops the stack of mail he has in his hands and quickly grabs that particular envelope, furrowing his eyebrows together when he notices that it's addressed to Louis and not to him. Harry doesn't know why Louis has mail coming to him from Harry's photography institution, but he's really curious to know the reason. He has an inkling already, he can tell this envelope contains a bill, and Harry is already feeling nauseous at the thought of Louis somehow receiving the payments from the institution. Harry knows he shouldn't be invading Louis' mail like this, but this envelope is starting to drive him crazy. Why does Louis have it and not his mother? Why is Louis hiding this from him? Why does Louis watch gay porn? 

Gosh, Harry is going crazy with everything, and since he already looked through Louis' laptop, he supposes there's no harm done in looking through his mail. He already deceived his boyfriend today, so what's one more time?

Harry breaks the seal on the envelope and nearly rips it open so he can pull the piece of paper out from inside. Once he gets it in his hands, he unfolds the paper and gasps when he reads the listing of classes he is enrolled in for this semester and then the price at the bottom of the page. It's nearly three times the amount Louis had spent shopping with Harry, and now Harry definitely thinks he's about to throw up. 

In that moment, is when Louis is walking back into the kitchen, shirtless, with just a pair of joggers on. He ignores Harry sitting on the counter, blatantly holding a bill in front of his face and goes to turn the kettle off. He grabs two mugs from the cupboard and is then finally turning to Harry, brows scrunched together in confusion. "What're you looking at?" he wonders. 

Harry lets out a deep breath and turns the paper over, revealing to Louis that he is looking at a bill, addressed to Louis, of all the classes Harry is taking at _London Institute of Photography._

Louis' face drops. "Oh," he mumbles, leaning against the counter and scratching at the back of his head. "Why were you going through my mail?"

Harry shakes his head, scowling as he jumps off the counter to slam the piece of paper on the counter. "Why do you have a bill for my photography classes?

"Harry -"

"Louis!"

Louis huffs and steps forward to grab the paper off the table. "Your mum couldn't afford it so I told her I would pay for it. Harry, It's really not that big of -"

"It's a huge deal!" Harry nearly yells. Harry already has to deal with all the people who claim he's only with Louis for his money, but now he has to deal with the fact that Louis spends thousands on clothes for him and thousands on his photography classes. Harry can't deal with it. He feels dirty and nauseous just thinking about it, and if he were a better person he would be over joyed Louis is willing to pay for it all, but he isn't. He can't be. They've only been together for a few months, they haven't even had sex or said those three words to one another, and Louis is just willing to drop more than Harry's allowance on him like it's no big deal. 

It is a big deal to Harry. 

"I don't see the problem, honestly," Louis admits innocently, glancing at the bill again, seeing the price and shrugging. 

Harry gawks. "You don't see the problem?" he mimics, shaking his head and turning around in a full circle because he doesn't know what fucking else to do. "Louis, this is so much fucking money. I have no way to pay you back. My own mother can't even pay you back. I planned on taking more classes after these, and I just - I can't - ugh," Harry pauses so he can start pulling on his hair. "Why did you not say anything?"

"I knew you would freak out."

Harry laughs bitterly, turning his body on the counter so he can look at anything but at Louis. 

"Harry, I don't mind paying, really."

"That's great, Louis. I'm glad I can be your fucking charity case." Harry curses under his breath when he feels his eyes watering up. He hastily brings his hands up to start rubbing at them. 

Louis sighs, frustratedly, and walks into Harry's space again. "Listen to me," he demands, gently, despite the harsh tone Harry is using with him, Louis remains calm. "Your mum supported you with photography, but she just didn't have the money to send you here. I do. I have the money, and I'm not doing this because I see you as my charity case. I'm doing this because I know how much you love photography, and I know how much it makes you happy. It's your passion, Harry, and if I have any way to actually help you pursue your dream, then I'm going to do it. I believe in you, and I believe you're going to go far with photography so please, love, just don't think about it. I'm begging you to relax, take all the courses you want, and jump on any opportunity you get. I promise, you're not my charity case. You're my boyfriend, and I _l-like_ you, and I support you."

 _Pick someone supportive_ nags at Harry's brain, and he feels so defeated. Louis is being so supportive of him right now, but in the wrong way that makes Harry's skin crawl. Of course he's thankful Louis is doing this for him, but at the same time, it's so much fucking money. It's crazy. 

"I have the money," Louis repeats again when he sees the small furrow of Harry's eyebrow that shows he's thinking too much. 

Harry groans and steps away from him. "It's not about you having the money, Lou. It's about me taking advantage of this money that you have. You already spent a shit ton on me when we went shopping, and now this? You bought a fucking Range Rover just so _I can_ drive it. Louis, how do you think that makes me feel?"

It makes him feel dirty, regretful, guilty, disgusting, kind of like a low-class whore who uses his boyfriend for money and doesn't even have the nerve to pay him sex, and dizzy. He doesn't feel great about this at all. 

"I feel like shit," Harry answers his own question, huffing, slumping against the fridge. Louis remains at the counter with his hands clutching the corners. "I can't keep going there. Not like this. I can't take advantage of your money like that. I'm not a gold digger."

"Okay, just _stop,_ okay? Stop, Harry." Louis says it with a small bite to his tone, now clearly getting frustrated over the whole thing. It has Harry rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest because he has absolutely no idea why Louis should be getting a tone with him. Harry is clearly the upset one. "I know you're not a gold digger, and I know you're not taking advantage of my money. I did this because it's something you wanted to do, and I wanted to be a part of it. It's my choice and my money, Harry. But, if it makes you feel better, whenever you start earning money, you can repay me. If that'll make you feel better."

Harry knows it will take years, _decades,_ before he earns the kind of money to repay Louis back for all that he's spent on him. Harry knows photographers don't make near as much as a footballer does, and if this money Harry is earning is being used to help him fucking survive, then he's not sure he'll ever find a stable point in his life where he can repay for _everything._ Gosh, this night turned to such shit, and he really can't stand to be around Louis right now because he simply has so much going on his mind, and all Louis will say is _don't worry about it_ or _I have the money,_ and that right now is the last thing Harry wants to hear. 

"I'm just - I'm going home," Harry announces. He walks out the kitchen and heads towards the front door. "I need to talk to my mum. I need to clear my head. I'm just - this is way too much for me right now."

Louis widens his eyes and rushes in front of Harry, blocking him from the front door. "No, don't leave. It's way too late."

"Louis," Harry sighs, already tired and defeated, ready to just sleep off everything. He really wants to be alone right now. 

"Stay the night. I don't want you to leave - not like this."

"I want to be alone, Lou."

"Then go in the bedroom. Be alone in there. I'll leave you alone, but _please_ don't leave. I'll stay out here and give you space. You can sleep on it. Clear your mind, and we can talk in the morning, or the after noon, or another day."

It's their first evident _not-so_ fight, and Harry can already tell Louis doesn't want to end it on a bad note. It's sweet, really, how much Louis wants to fix things and go back to normal, and Harry does too. He's not one to fight with his friends or family, even his boyfriend, but he really does need some time to think about this. It's a big decision to make if he's going to continue going to school with Louis paying for it. Or, it's a big decision for Harry to accept, and he needs to make that decision and live with that decision without Louis hounding him every second. 

"Okay," Harry agrees, looking away from Louis. "I'll see you in the morning."

Harry brushes past Louis and heads straight into the bedroom. He doesn't even glance behind him to see if Louis is okay or what his reaction is because all Harry knows is that he needs to be alone. When he gets inside the room, he shuts the door and quickly changes into some pajamas. He flops on top of the mattress and looks up at the ceiling to hopefully clear his mind, but he can't. All he's thinking about is Louis and his stupid, beautiful face and his stupid, sweet personality. Of course Louis would pay for Harry because that's the kind of person he is. Of course Louis wants to fix everything with Harry right away because he cares about the boy, and of course Louis would give Harry his bedroom because he really has the kindest soul when it comes to Harry. Louis just seems to always put Harry first, and as Harry is sitting there on the bed with his anger slowly starting to dissipate, he starts feeling guilty for ever getting mad at Louis in the first place. 

Louis really is just trying to help, genuinely, and Harry knows this. That's why Harry finds himself a couple hours later sneaking out the bedroom to join Louis on the couch. They don't say any words, but Harry knows Louis has been awake this whole time because once Harry is approaching the couch Louis is laying on, Louis opens his arms for Harry to come snuggle. And that's how they end up falling asleep that night, cuddled up on the couch with Harry laying on Louis' chest and no more words spoken on the matter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you guys think about this? Does Harry have a right to get upset about Louis' spendings? Let me know your opinions.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry this post took longer than normal. I've just gone on a small vacation with my family (don't worry we are being safe) and so it's been hard for me to find time to write. Fear not though, I will continue as best as I can (: I'm dedicated to you guys and to this story. Updates will just be slightly sporadic (more sporadic than they previously were lol) 
> 
> Enjoy xx

The bright cast of the morning sun peaking through the cracks of the blinds is what wakes Harry up abruptly, alongside the scent of bacon making its way into his room. Harry groans and turns over so he can bury his face into his pillow, trying to hide both the light and the smell from actually opening his eyes, but he knows he needs to wake up soon, especially since his mother decided to make breakfast this morning. Harry knows it's pity breakfast, and as endeared as he is for his mother taking the time to cook him a meal, he knows she's only doing it because Harry is upset with the whole god damn world. Besides, Niall. Niall is like the only person right now Harry can handle. And Claire, his cousin. Maybe his Aunt and Uncle. Fuck, and Gemma, she hasn't done anything either. 

Harry grumbles some more and practically throws the covers off his body after he realizes he can't escape anything. He lays flat on his back for a couple of minutes and then finally decides to roll off the bed. He walks over to the bathroom and does his usual morning routine. He washes off his body, tames his curls, forgoes taking his nail polish off, and returns to his bed room to get dress. Harry also has to pack, he reminds himself. Today he's supposed to travel with Louis to Manchester to spend a day with Claire before Chelsea plays Manchester City in a premiere league game so he knows he needs to brighten up and get chirpy so this trip isn't a living hell for him, but for some reason, he can't. He's still upset about the whole money issue, and honestly, he's still slightly pissy about the gay porn Louis secretly watches behind his back. It's ... fine. Harry really doesn't know what he's even upset with at this point, he's fucking mad at the sun right now, but he knows he's been staying at home a lot more for the past week, has barely acknowledged Louis or his mother, and he needs to shove a sock in it and get over it. Harry knows this, but again, it's easier said than done. 

Harry walks down the steps once he's dressed and has his bag packed. He tosses his bag on to the couch and walks into the kitchen to see his mother setting a plate on the table. Harry remains silent and goes to take his seat, already grabbing his fork and picking at his eggs, not bothering to wait for his mother to start eating. 

"Harry," Anne sighs, in a tone that makes Harry set his fork down and look at her. "This passive attitude needs to stop," she warns. 

"You letting Louis pay for my photography classes needs to stop," Harry fires back. He looks down at his plate again and begins eating his food, not bothering to look up when his mother takes a seat across from him. "I can't believe you're even letting Louis do this."

Anne huffs as she grabs her cup of coffee. "Harry, I cannot control what Louis freely decides to do. I already tried talking to him about it, but he was insistent on doing it. I think it's sweet, and maybe you should be appreciative about it, and to be honest, I thought you knew about it."

"I do appreciate it, mum," Harry practically whines. He hates how his own mind and his own mother think that he doesn't appreciate anything Louis does for him. Of course he's more than grateful, thankful, blessed, happy, and appreciative that Louis is willing to spend money on him, but at the same time, the money Louis spends is in thousands, and Harry can't breathe properly when he thinks about it. "It's just - it's _a lot_ of money, and you know it's a crazy thing for him to do."

"Look, he's in love with you. What can I do about it?"

Anne says it so nonchalant that she doesn't even realize she practically dropped the most sacred words of all time on Harry like it's the most obvious thing in the world because, _uh no_ , Harry had no idea Louis was in love with. Harry honestly hasn't thought about it _ever_. He figures one day they would say it to one another, but there is another part of him that kind of thought it was an unrealistic fantasy he always dreamed about. But his _own mother_ thinking that Louis is in love with him is a whole other ball game. 

Harry lets out a shaky breath as he runs over the thought continuously in his head, and in the mean time, the front door rings. Harry's too frozen in his spot to actually get up and answer it so Anne does it for him. She gives him a brief smile and stands up from the table ,disappearing into the living room to let, probably Louis, inside the house. And, of course, just like Harry thought, it's Louis. He can hear Louis and his mother greeting one another at the door so he knows it's time for them to leave for Manchester. Harry quickly finishes up the last remnants of his meal and gets up from the chair to grab his stuff in the living room. He hopes his sour mood does go away because he really can not wait to see Claire, and he truthfully did miss Louis and feels guilty for the way he reacted, but he can tell his attitude is still evident on his face because when his mother gives him a goodbye hug, she whispers a soft _be nice_ before letting Harry go. 

Harry nods, gives her a small smile, and grabs his bag. He follows Louis out the house and sees a car is already parked out front with Louis' driver standing by, so the two of them go into the backseat while the driver takes his rightful place behind the wheel. Harry sets his bag on the floor and opts to look out the window rather than being mature and talking to Louis. At this point, he doesn't even know what to say. He feels bad for snooping through Louis' laptop, and then his mail, and then freaking out about the money that he probably wouldn't have found in the first place had he kept his nose in the right place. In all truthfulness, Harry just wishes Louis would have told him about the school, and he wishes Louis would sometimes be a little careful when it came to splurging for him, and also, since he's at it, Harry wishes Louis would stop watching porn and start watching him. 

After the silence drags on for another hour, Louis makes the first attempt at a conversation. 

"Are you excited to hang with Claire?" He questions, and Harry cringes because of course that would be a great way to make Harry talk. 

"I am," Harry smiles, still looking out the window. "I miss her a lot."

There's another silence that settles over them, and Harry knows Louis is about to bring _it_ up. 

"Harry," Louis sighs, and yup, there _it_ is. 

Harry finally turns away from the window and looks at Harry. "We don't have to talk about it right now. I'm not mad, just overwhelmed, I guess. I want to have fun this weekend and forget about our stupid fight."

Louis nods his head because that actually doesn't sound too bad of an idea. If he has to spend nearly four hours in the car with his boyfriend, then Louis wants them to at least be civil with one another. They end up scooting closer to each other the further into the drive they get, and Louis pulls his laptop out at one point so they can watch a couple movies in the mean time. Harry childishly wonders how many more visits to _Men Hub_ Louis had done since Harry hasn't spent the night, but he _really does_ try not to think too hard about it. _Ugh_ , stupid porn. 

They eventually pull up to the address that Harry had given the driver. It's Harry's first time actually being at Claire's new place so he feels both anxious and excited to see how her life is in Manchester. When the car pulls up to the curb, Harry eagerly gets out the vehicle to rush up to the door. Louis giggles because Harry left his bag behind so he goes to grab it and then walks to the trunk to grab out his bag as well. He's walking up to the porch by the time Claire is opening the door, and upon seeing each other, Claire and Harry immediately pull each other into a bone crushing hug. Louis stands off to the side and watches with a warm smile on his face. 

"Hazamasta, you're here," Claire breathes out, snuggling into Harry's chest. 

Harry laughs as he holds her tighter. "Yeah, I'm here. I missed you so much Claire Bear."

Harry tries not to think too much about the way his arms completely encompass her body. In just shy of a few months of seeing her, he can already feel all the weight she's lost due to her sickness. It makes Harry's heart hurt more than it should, and when he pulls back to really get a good look at Claire, he sees how frail and fragile she looks. Her skin nearly lost its peachy color, mainly a ghostly pale that sends a shiver down Harry's spine. Her once vibrant green eyes are now dull and tired, like she spends most days stressing rather than sleeping. At least she has her brunette hair falling along her shoulders, but her body is so bony and small that Harry's scared if he ever hugs her too tightly he'll just break her. Harry really tries not to think too much about it and instead hides his worries by grabbing on to Louis' arm so he can officially be in view for Claire. 

"Wow, its _the_ Louis Tomlinson," she nearly gasps, half feigning shock. "Come here Louitonic. Give me a cuddle."

Louis smiles and crouches down to Claire's level so he can gently give her a hug. "It's great to finally meet you."

"Are your parents still working?" Harry wonders as he steps inside the house after Claire and Louis greet each other. He has his hand holding Claire's and following to where she leads them into the living room. Louis trails behind with both their bags in his hands, and once he finds an open area to set them down, he does so. He then joins Harry and Claire where they are sitting on the couch and chooses to take the other side of Harry so he can be close to the boy. He even takes a chance to place his hand on Harry's knee and internally cheers when Harry doesn't try to remove the touch. 

"Yeah," Claire responds. "They'll be in later."

"So, what's the plan for today then, Claire?" Louis wonders. 

Harry turns his head slightly and briefly glances at Louis to smile at him. Louis catches his eyes and returns the sentiment. 

"I wanted to go to the park today," Claire announces in the middle of their moment, ignoring it in favor of standing to her feet and reaching for both their hands. "I love going there. They have a big flower garden right past the play ground. It's amazing. I have to show you guys."

Harry giggles when tiny but mighty Claire drags both of them out of the house. Harry's lucky that everything seems to be close around here because otherwise he would have no idea where to go. The park is literally right down the street from Claire's home, and Claire seems perfectly okay with having Harry and Louis on either side of her as she drags them down the sidewalk to get to the park at the end of the road. The walk ends up being more silent than any one of them intended to be. Louis, who still isn't sure where Harry's head is at, doesn't really know what he should say. He still feels like Harry is upset with him, and he doesn't want to keep pestering the boy to talk about what's going on. Louis gets it. Harry needs time to accept everything, but Louis just wishes that time is now because he genieunly misses talking to Harry. Harry, on the other hand, looks off in the distance during the walk, seemingly perfectly fine with admiring the area around them rather than initiating a conversation. The whole time Claire looks in between them to understand why no one is talking. It's not like she expects conversations to be happening all the time, but she did expect something considering she never met Louis and hardly ever sees Harry. It's kind of like she can sense the tension between the two boys having only been around them for just a few minutes. 

With a huff, Claire stops walking, turning around to face the two boys with a raised eyebrow. "Are you two still fighting?"

"What?" Harry questions confusedly. 

"I heard my mom talking to Aunt Anne about how you and Louis were fighting. She told my mom to not bring something up otherwise it'll make you upset."

"We're fine, Claire," Harry tries to ease with a small, nervous laugh. 

"It's about him paying for your school, right?"

Harry tilts his head and quickly glances at Louis. Louis raises his eyebrows and shrugs his shoulders, not understanding why she's bringing this up or how she even knows. 

"Claire, it's okay. We don't need to talk about it. Let's go have fun at the park." Harry tries to walk forward again with his hand still in Claires, but Claire ends up refusing to follow. Harry huffs as his hand gets free from Claires, and he turns around to look at where she is standing with her arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, yes, it's about that you nosy, turd."

"I think it's pretty great Louis wants to pay for your school," Claire admits, having a small hint of attitude that Harry isn't really used to. 

"Claire," Harry sighs, rolling his eyes. "You don't understand -"

"I'm just saying, it's pretty romantic that Louis wants to help you become successful. That's what people do when they're in love, Harry. They do whatever they can to make their significant other happy." Claire finishes with a shrug and ends up skipping ahead to leave Louis and Harry standing there like she didn't just drop the _L_ bomb on him, too. First Harry's mother said it this morning, and now Claire? Fuck, does Louis really love Harry?

Harry opens his mouth to make a comment regarding it, but he quickly closes it when he realizes he has no idea what to even say. He looks up at Louis to see if there is any reaction from him, like maybe his face will give something away, but all Louis is doing is staring at his shoes, cheeks slightly flushed, but overall, not making any comment. What is Harry supposed to get from that? If Louis does love Harry, then of course it makes sense why Louis is willing to spend all this money in the first place, and that does calm Harry's anxiousness a little. Claire does have a point. Whether the situation is for Niall or for Louis, Harry knows he would do absolutely anything for either of them if it meant helping them achieve something. And evidently, so will Louis. It's hard to believe that someone like Louis can actually be in love with someone like Harry, but it's there. Harry has heard from two different people that it's there, and as thrilling and exciting as it is, he still needs to hear those words directly from Louis. 

"She's right," Harry ends up admitting after thinking about it for a couple minutes. He glances down the street and sees that Claire is waiting by a tree for the both of them, so the two of them begin walking to catch up with her. "Thank you, Louis, really. I do appreciate everything you do for me, and I know I over reacted, it's just - it was a lot at once. It's your money, you can do whatever you want with it, and I'm really thankful that you _do_ spend some of it on me. It's sweet."

Louis smiles. "Of course, baby."

Harry smiles in return and slowly reaches for Louis' hand. His eyes watch the way their fingers interlock so perfectly together before he's glancing up at Louis with those same bright, green eyes. Louis leans in to press a kiss to the side of Harry's mouth and quickens their pace so they can finally reach Claire. Claire practically glows when she sees the two of them holding hands, _finally_. 

"Come on. The flowers await." 

Claire immediately takes off to the small garden she was previously talking about. Harry looks over at it for a few seconds and suddenly feels every ounce of confidence and will drain out of him. He doesn't know why, but seeing all those flowers out in the field brings him back to a bad memory. He feels frozen in his spot as he watches a little boy walk over to pick a sunflower out the ground. He even feels a cold shiver running down his spine when that little boy skips the flower over to a little girl who gladly accepts it. That should be happy and cute. Harry should be practically cooing, but all Harry can think about right now is that last time he showed his love for flowers, he got beat up for it. He got beat up so badly because of it his whole family had to fucking move to another town. It's embarrassing, and Harry never really thought he would ever find fascination in flowers again. He's scared to be reminded. He's scared that there will be someone out there just watching him and finding the perfect chance to corner and make fun of him. It really is a depressing thought, but it's been years since Harry's actually touched a flower because of his past. 

"Hey, babe," Louis whispers as he comes up behind Harry. He tucks his chin over Harry's shoulder and noses along Harry's jawline. "I can tell you're thinking way too much. What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

Harry sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. "I haven't really - it's just been awhile since I've been around flowers."

Louis understands. Of course he understands, Harry thinks. Louis' supposedly in love with him so it's obvious how in tuned he is with Harry. Now, if only Harry can get Louis to realize how much he despises Louis watching porn then that would be fantastic as well. 

"Look, nothings going to happen. Nothings going to happen because I won't let it happen. Maybe it's time we replace these bad memories with some good ones now, yeah?"

Harry eases up a little, smiling as he cuddles his head against Louis'. "You're right," he breathes out, turning around in Louis' arms to press a kiss to his nose. "Let's go."

Louis squeezes Harry's hand and guides him over to where Claire is already picking out so many flowers. She has a big wad of it shoved into a small pouch she made from her shirt. When she sees Harry and Louis finally joining, she practically squeals and makes a show of weaving flowers through her braids. Harry smiles and pulls Louis further into the garden so they look at some of the flowers together. Harry loves the different color petals that are surrounding him and the different style of flowers that are there to choose from. He sees Lilies, that are his absolute favorite, and some daffodils. There are sunflowers and roses. Hibiscus and tulips. Harry feels like he's practically glowing with all these flowers that are around him, and as he goes to pick a Lily up, he feels Louis' hand brushing a curl out of his face before a flower is being tucked behind his ear.

Harry blushes almost instantly, and he nearly feels like crying because in Louis' other hand is a big bundle of flowers he had plucked from around, and honestly, Harry is probably in love as well. 

"Prettiest flower here," Louis says softly. 

Harry's smile is so wide as he reaches up to touch the flower Louis tucked into his hair. He feels his heart beating so quickly in his chest with how sweet Louis is, and he just has to give him a quick kiss to show how much he really appreciates the way Louis pays attention to the little things. It's sweet, and Louis' in love, _duh_. 

"Hazza, we should use these flowers I picked to make flower crowns," Claire suggest as she skips her way over to the two of them. Her eyes end up widening in fascination when she takes in the flower tucked into Harry's ear. 

However, at the suggestion, every bright and happy thing on Harry's face instantly drops. 

"I don't know," he sighs. 

Flower crowns are a trigger. The last time he wore one was back in Cheshire, the day his classmates decided it would be the best thing in the world to beat Harry up solely because of what he fancies. It was cruel, and even years after it happened, it still haunts Harry. Harry still can't look a flowers without remembering what happened that day, and he can't even think about making a flower crown without feeling the pain that came from wearing it. 

"Babe, it's okay," Louis whispers to him softly again. He steps into Harry's space again and wraps an arm around his waist. "Remember, we're making new memories now?"

Claire walks up to Harry, her innocent eyes looking at him earnestly. "Can I show you something?" she questions, sounding so fragile that it makes Harry's heart race a little. 

"Sure."

Claire gives him a comforting smile and is then using her free hand to grab Harry's, who's other hand is still in Louis', so she can lead the way back to her house. 

**//**

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//

Claire leads Harry and Louis back into the living room once they make it to the house again. Louis and Harry walk over to the couch while Claire rushes down the hallway to where her room supposedly is. Harry giggles at her retreating figure and turns to Louis to see that he still has the bundle of flowers in his hand. Harry decides to go into the kitchen real quick to fill a cup with water so he can bring it to Louis to place the flowers in. Once Harry has those in the water, he set's it on the end table next to the couch just as Claire is rushing back into the room with a box in her hand. 

"I'm back," she announces, slightly out of breath, breathing heavily and taking a brief second to calm down. After she recovers, she sets the box on the coffee table in front of the two boys.

Harry tilts his head when the box comes in view, and he instantly recognizes it. A few years ago when he and Claire used to live near one another, Harry specifically made that box for Claire so she can put all her flower crown materials inside it. Harry used a bunch of flower petals and dried them up so he could glue it all around the box. It was one of his greatest arts and crafts project he was super proud of. Harry even had one of his own before he chunked it in the garbage. 

"Please, stand, my good men," Claire then announces in a posh voice. She steps back from the table and crosses her hands behind her back. She straightens up and tilts her nose into the air, looking oddly proper for a moment. 

Harry and Louis glance at each other, both confused, but still following Claire's orders. 

"What's in the box?" Louis questions curiously. 

Claire relaxes a little, smiling as she goes back to the box on the table. "My memories are in here," she explains. 

Harry and Louis step forward to look when Claire unveils what's inside the box. Upon the revelation, Harry gasps when he sees all the flower crowns Claire has. All of them are created from fake flower petals, and from what Harry can see, they are also the ones the two of them made together when they lived next to each other. It's been years since the last time they ever had a flower crown session, and Harry feels so emotional at seeing nearly every single one he and Claire made together sitting in that box. Harry reaches out and grabs the one on top, a crown with multiple color of roses. He awes. 

"You kept them all?" Harry questions breathlessly, feeling his heart rabbit in his chest and eyes suddenly going glossy. _Fuck_ , he really is getting emotional over this. 

The flower crown underneath the one he is holding is the one that causes the first tear to actually spill over. He sets the rose flower crown down on the table and reaches in the box to grab the next one, laughing under his breath when he runs his fingers along the petals of the Lily. It was Harry's first ever crown that he made with Claire, and he thought he would never get to see it again. He's not sure how Claire even has this crown in the first place, but it means a lot to him that he gets to see his first ever creation. It's still perfectly in tact as well, like Claire took special care of this crown like she knew how much it meant to Harry. And she's right. It's the one that started their pass time hobby together. For years, months, weeks, Harry and Claire would make flower crown after flower crown and then spend the time following playing Prince and Princess with one another. Claire loved it. It was the happiest Harry had ever seen Claire so of course he would continue to make crowns and play princess with her. 

"I _uh_ \- I threw all mine away," Harry evetually says with a gulp, eyeballing the rest of the crowns Claire has inside the box, the ones she had made. Harry sighs and sets the crown off to the side as well, stepping away from the table and slouching on the couch because he somehow feels guilty that he threw all their memories away while Claire decided to store hers. 

Claire steps into Harry's space. She takes the spot next to him and places her hand on his leg. "It's okay, Harry," she eases with a smile. " _Sir_ , Harry," she adds in her posh voice, the same one she always used whenever they played like royalty. It helps calm Harry down some to where he can smile at her without fearing he'll burst into tears. "Now, just like every bedtime story you used to read to me, in order for a prince - or princess - to be proper, they always face people who are trying to dethrone them."

Claire stands up from the couch once she finishes and stands directly in front of Harry. She tilts her head to the side to glance at where Louis is still standing quietly by the coffee table and beckons him over to her side. Louis follows without a question, and as he approaches her, she curtsies. Louis' lips tilt up, and before he can actually ask what's going on, Claire ends up handing him over the rose flower crown. Claire hinges at the waist and hints at Louis to place the crown on her head so he does, and when she stands back up, Louis tries to mimic Claire's earlier pose of standing with his hands crossed behind his back and nose tilted in the air. 

"Princess Claire," he announces to the room in a posh voice, causing Claire to giggle a little and for Harry to actually full on grin now. 

Claire turns back to Harry now, head held in high in confidence now that she has a crown around her forehead. "Now, on to you _Sir_ , Harry," she continues, reaching for the Lily flower crown to hold in front of her chest. "It's an old tale that every Prince needs their perfect Princess, but I think in your story, you get a Knight in Shining Armor - your savior. The one who will go out of their way to make sure no one dethrones your rightful place as a Prince."

"Princess," Louis corrects with a wink, Harry rolling his eyes at the comment but still feeling _oh so_ endeared. 

"Even better," Claire agrees brightly, turning to face Louis. "Now, Knight Louis, please kneel for me." Louis does as told, kneeling on his knees and glancing up at Claire. Claire gives him a small, curt nod and is then placing the Lily crown on top of his fringe. Harry watches with a growing smile on his face and more tears filling his eyes, shaking his head at his own self for getting this emotional for what his eleven year old cousin wants to do for him to make him feel better. It's sweet, and Harry loves her so dearly. 

"You are officially knighted," Claire whispers to Louis, smiling widely. She reaches back towards the box again and this time pulls out another flower crown, an all white Lily one, before she hands it over to Louis. "You may now crown your Prince."

Louis bites his bottom lip and scoots on his knees to get closer to Harry. Harry giggles and doesn't bother to wipe away some of the tears that finally rolled down his cheek. No, he ignores it as he hinges his body a little so Louis can place the crown on top of his head. It's so sweet and romantic and just an amazing moment that brings so many emotions inside of him. He gets why Claire is doing this. He gets why Louis wants to participate it. They want to give Harry new memories when it comes to crowns and flowers so that any time Harry does look at them again, he's brought back to this moment instead of all the previous bad moments. It's so fucking thoughtful so Harry thinks his tears are appropriate. 

"You are now a true Prince, Prince Harry," Claire continues once Harry properly has a crown on his head, diverting his attention back to her. "Of all those peasants who tried to dethrone your title, you proved that your strength and courage was enough to not let them knock you down. And with the help of your Knight in Shining Armor -" She motions to Louis - "You are now able to live a free life without having anyone trying to bring you down. As long as you wear your crown proud with your Knight by your side, you will continue to lead your kingdom to success."

And yeah, Harry starts fucking crying. 

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** My flower prince x

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**LeeviHanes54 commented:** It's a great look Lou

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 **HarryStyles commented:** the sweetest xxxxxxx

//

Harry, Louis and Claire all find themselves at the dining table hours later teaching Louis how to make a crown himself. Because it takes such intricate detailing, Harry figured he could help Louis the best by sitting on his lap. So that's where he currently is. Louis' arms are wound under Harry's, and their hands meet on the table where Harry's fingers gently guide Louis in the proper technique in how to weave the flower stem through the wire of the crown.

"That's good, Lou," Harry comments once Louis get's three flowers in. He smiles as he glances up at Claire, winking when she nods her head approvingly to Louis' efforts.

However, Louis is not as easy going.

"This is bloody hard," Louis ends up complaining. He drops the flower crown from his hold - because he knows Harry is also holding it as well - and moves his arms completely around Harry's body so he can snuggle up against his back. Louis then presses his cheek against Harry's shoulder blades and just holds him there. "Lemme just hold you while you finish making the crown for me." 

Louis is so fucking lazy, and he might potentially be in love with Harry, and Harry is still _shook_ that he watches gay porn. There's a lot going on. 

"Louis," Claire groans, more like warns in a snappy tone. "I want a flower crown from you, mister."

Louis whines, actually whines. "It's too much work." Louis moves his head so he can hook his chin over Harry's shoulder, watching happily as Harry continues making the crown. 

"Hazza makes the best crowns ever," Claire comments as she watches Harry weave the flowers into the crown, almost likes it soothing her. Louis understands. He thinks he could watch Harry make flower crowns for hours. He does it so finely and easily that it's like a second nature for him. "I used to wear the crowns all the time whenever we went places."

Louis hums, angling his head towards Harry's face as best as he could. "Did you wear them, too?"

"Not really," Harry responds. "I normally made them for Claire to wear, but I did wear them whenever we played, and sometimes secretly in my room," he adds with a small, breathy giggle. 

Claire drops the flower crown she's making on to the table and slouches, suddenly looking guilty as she glances to her lap. "M' sorry, Harry," she mutters sadly, causing Harry to pause his weaving to look at her. "I didn't mean to bring -"

"Claire Bear, it's okay," Harry reassures gently, a soft smile on his face. He holds his crown up for emphasis and continues to weave, nearly done with the whole thing. "Remember, flower crowns are a happy memory for me now." Harry quickly finishes the rest of the crown, that _was_ supposed to be for Louis, and places it on his head, showing it off proudly to Claire. "See, Prince Harry?"

Claire finally smiles. 

"Princess, Harry," Louis corrects. 

Harry rolls his eyes and uses his back to push at Louis' chest. "I don't get why you call me that," he grumbles, playfully glaring at Claire when she giggles at them. He tosses a flower petal at her for her betrayal. 

"The twins call you that," Louis explains - Harry raising his eyes for him to continue. Louis laughs. "Daisy says you're my princess because I treat you like one, and Phoebe calls you one because of your curls and how pretty you are." Harry blushes. "So I asked them one day - _aren't princesses supposed to be girls_ \- just to see what they would say, and they said _anyone_ could be a Princess as long as they meet the requirements. You have curls, _check._ You're beautiful, _check._ You're the sweetest, _check._ And I'm your Prince, _check._ "

"My prince?" Harry asks with a smile. 

Louis puts his hands up. "Daisy's words, not mine." Harry laughs and leans back into Louis' chest, getting comfortable now that they are done making crowns. "Then I came over to you watching Princess Diaries, and that's how I knew you were secretly a Princess all along."

"Prince Louis and Princess Harry," Claire tests it out, like she's considering the possibility. "I like it," she then says with a wide grin. "But, I might have to reconsider the Prince. He's quite lazy."

"Hey," Louis pouts, playfully glaring at Claire as if it would make her take back the comment. 

She doesn't. Instead, Claire ends up laughing, and then Harry ends up laughing, and now Louis feels completely teamed up on. Harry shouldn't be laughing at him so obviously Louis has to get back at him somehow. The best thing he can think of is poking at Harry's sides, knowing very well he's easily ticklish, and just as expected, when Louis wiggles his fingers against Harry's ribs, Harry jumps. 

"I can tell people get annoyed when they are around the two of you," Claire notes after watching Louis continuously poke Harry's side with Harry jumping and groaning each time. Harry also didn't have a way to escape the pokes as well because Louis' other arm is wrapped tightly around his middle, practically holding him there so he has to suffer through the tickles. Claire simply watches as she places her now finished flower crown on top of her head, and that's when Louis finally stops tickling so he can admire the way she looks. 

"Beautiful," he notes, hands resting comfortably on top of Harry's stomach now. 

Harry smiles at the comment and agrees with a nod, moving his own hands to Louis' so they can interlock their fingers together. "Claire, maybe one day you can come visit us in London. I think you would like it, and Louis' little sisters will adore you."

Claire's face suddenly drops again. "I can't," she whispers lowly, gulping. Harry frowns at the sudden shift in her tone and briefly glances at Louis to see the same look of confusion on his face. "Harry, I would love to come visit you guys, but like - London is just - it's - " Claire pauses to catch her breath, brows furrowed together like she doesn't exactly know what to say. "The doctors told me that if they can't provide the proper medical care here to keep me ... _healthy_ ... then their last resort is sending me to London's medical center."

Harry gulps, feeling Louis tighten his hold on him. 

"Pretty much, London is like a sign that my body is failing," she adds quietly under her breath, slowly getting choked up. "If I'm being honest, I want to avoid London as much as possible. I don't think I can change my view of it like you can for flowers. I'm not as strong as you."

Harry really doesn't know how to respond after that. He didn't mean to bring something up that would shift the mood and make Claire upset. He simply just wanted Claire to know that she's always welcomed to his house as well, but it seems like London is a very sore subject for Claire. Harry feels horrible, and he's staring at Claire's pouty face and regretting for ever bringing it up in the first place. They were having such a good time, and now the air around them is tense. Harry isn't really sure what he should say or do to lift the mood up, he doesn't want to say the wrong thing again to make Claire even more upset, so he just sits there, on Louis' lap, shoulders slouched, and a frown on his face. 

But, leave it to Louis to change the mood of everything. 

He starts off by prodding at Harry's side again, eyes carefully watching Claire to see if she starts to notice. Claire is still looking down at her lap, but when Louis gets one good jab into Harry's side, Harry yelps and abruptly jolts. That's when Claire finally looks up so Louis starts tickeling Harry even more, and Harry can't contain the weird sounds he lets out each time. Claire's eyes brighten as she watches, lips slowly curving up when Harry starts slapping at Louis' hand to keep Louis from tickling him. It doesn't work. Louis just keeps tickling, and tickling, and tickling until Harry is both huffing and laughing at the same time until he's nearly falling off of Louis' lap from trying to avoid his fingers. That gets a loud cackle out of Claire. 

"Stop it," Harry whines, curving his body left and right, groaning when Louis tickles him again. "You're going to make me fall," he complains, ergo, Louis' hand going to his back to actually prevent him from nearly falling over again. 

Louis rolls his eyes and continues to tickle him. "I'm not going to let you fall." He says this, but then there is a particular hard tickle right underneath Harry's arm pit that has him literally rolling off of Louis' legs to land on the floor so gracefully. "Well," Louis sighs, turning to glance at Claire thoughtfully. "Attack."

Harry's eyes widen in fear when Claire and Louis suddenly jolt from the dining chairs to rush over to where he's sitting on the kitchen floor. Claire is laughing like a maniac as she pushes Harry's chest to make him fall back. Once Claire gets Harry lying on the ground, she sits on top of his belly and starts digging her fingers straight into Harry's sides while Louis tries keeping Harry pinned down by hands on his shoulders. 

"Take Princess Harry down with tickles," Claire calls out, keeping true to her words with her evil fingers tickling Harry. 

Harry starts giggling like a fool and crying out for them to stop. He's thrashing his body side to side to try to avoid any finger tickling his side, but he's not successful in avoiding anything. He's thankfully saved when his Aunt is coming in to the house and walking towards the kitchen when the loud sounds of Harry's giggles and Claire and Louis' evil laughter draws her in there. 

"What on earth is going on?" Jenna asks once she takes notice of her child pinning her nephew on the ground. She sets her bag down on the ground next to her and puts her hands on her hips, eyeballing the three hooligans. 

Harry whines and looks at his Aunt desperately. "Help me," he giggles and cries. Harry's not really sure what sounds he's making right now. 

Jenna hums thoughtfully and gives Harry a small, subtle nod. She tries to think of something on a whim while Louis and Claire continue to torture Harry, but it seems like the only rational thing she can do to save him is to walk up to them and push both Claire and Louis off Harry's body. Harry sits up and laughs when the two of them fall over with a huff, and he stares surprisedly up at his Aunt for doing something like that. Even Claire looks betrayed, but she's still giggling. 

"Get your revenge, now," Jenna advises with a smile. 

Louis and Claire immediately snap their eyes at one another and widen them in slight fear. Harry looks between the two of them and starts smiling evilly before Louis and Claire are jumping to their feet and rushing out the kitchen. 

"Run, Lou-zer," Claire squeals, practically pushing Louis out the kitchen arch way and rushing down the hallway. 

Jenna gives Harry a look and motions her head in the direction the two of them just ran off to. Harry rolls his eyes, smiling as he stands up on his feet to quickly rush after Louis and Claire. Jenna laughs as he leaves and informs the household that they will be leaving for dinner soon and to not hurt Louis considering he has a game the next day. Harry tosses a thumbs up behind him and quickly scurries down the hallway to see that Louis and Claire had hid away in Claire's room. Harry huffs when he reaches the closed door, and he slowly pushes it open to see that both Louis and Claire are in a fit of giggles with their backs to him. Harry sees his perfect opportunity for a sneak attack and ends up rushing into the room to jump on top of Louis' back. Louis huffs and immediately grabs on to Harry's leg to keep him from falling. 

"The big oaf got me," Louis laughs, glancing at Claire and seeing her fall to the floor with a huff, spreading out like a starfish. Louis tilts his head. "What happened?"

Claire arches her head and points at Harry. "He jumped on you," she informs like Louis isn't currently holding Harry's weight on his back. "He obviously won."

"Wohoo," Harry cheers, pumping his fist in the air while his other arm tightens on Louis' shoulder. 

Louis rolls his eyes and walks over to Claire's bed. He turns around so his back is facing the mattress and plops backwards so he squishes Harry in between him and the bed. "Actually, we won," Louis now cheers, giggling when Harry groans loudly. 

Claire sits up and starts giggling. She crawls across the floor and makes her way towards the side of the bed so she can tickle Harry again. That's when David, Harry's uncle, walks into the room, standing at the door with furrowed brows. 

"I was going to see if you guys were ready for dinner," he speaks slowly, eyeballing where Harry is squished underneath Louis and being tickled by Claire. "But I can see you all are busy. What's going on here?"

Claire brings her hands to herself and sits up on her knees. "We won, dad."

David hums. "That's great."

Harry groans and pushes Louis off of him. 

"So are we ready for dinner then?" David asks. "We need Harry to not get suffocated. We need Louis to be healthy and well fed for the game tomorrow, and we need Claire to stop tickling people."

"I don't know, dad," Claire says thoughtfully, turning to glance at Louis with a frown. "He _is_ playing Manchester City, and that _is_ my team. Maybe we can sabotage him?"

Harry rolls his eyes and playfully tosses a pillow at Claire. "You can't say that when you have a poster of my boyfriend on your wall." He points to the said poster with a frown. 

"I'm just supporting your relationship Hazmeister," Claire fires back. 

That is Uncle David's cue to leave, so he does, laughing on his way out to leave the three of them alone. 

"Well," Louis then says. "I don't know if you deserve a present from me."

"What?" Claire yelps

"You got her a gift?" Harry questions. 

Louis ignores both of them with a smile and gets off the bed. Aunt Jenna is calling all of them to get ready to leave so Louis is the first one up and out of the room to join her by the front door. Harry and Claire share a look with one another before going to join them as well. They have dinner at Campo Enoteca, a very cozy restaurant known for their Roman cuisine. Since Harry is in town visiting, and Claire's birthday isn't too far away, they end up celebrating it for the night. They get a free dessert in the process, and Harry knew this was happening all along so he surprised Claire with a present she wasn't expecting. Even Louis brought a gift as well, something Harry had no idea he was even doing, but it was super sweet and kind of him do. Harry got Claire a flower crown he had made earlier in the day, but then he gifst her with a floral ring that matches the one he has on his own pointer finger. Claire is nearly in tears as she slips the ring on her finger, but then it's Louis' turn to give her a gift, and he completely outshines anything and everything that Harry had even given her because Louis is also giving a matching gift to Harry as well. 

Harry is surprised when Louis pulls out two bags, one going to Claire and one going to himself. The two of them end up opening the gift at the same time, and they both pull out matching Lily pendant necklaces that get a similar reaction of breathless gasps. 

"This is amazing," Claire breathes out. 

"Louis," is what Harry whispers, in complete awe as he looks at the necklace held in front of his face. Claire looks up at him and showcase the necklace she has as well, smiling so widely when she notices they are the exact same. 

"Now the two of you can always be together even when you aren't," Louis responds warmly. 

Claire bites her lip and begins clipping the necklace around her neck. "Hazza, we both have lilies now. Our favorite flower."

Harry's still completely speechless as he stares at the necklace in his hold. He wants to cry and laugh, not entirely sure what emotion he wants to currently embrace because Louis compltely surprised the socks out of him. It's such a small and thoughtful gift, but it has so much meaning that Harry's heart is nearly bursting in his chest. The necklace is symbolic, and it represents Harry's relationship with Claire. They love flowers and they love Lilies, and now, with this necklace, it's something they can represent every single day with a simple pendant hanging from their necks, and Harry is so in love with Louis that it takes his breath away. But as Harry is turning to finally say his thanks for the gift, maybe even giving Louis a kiss in return, or profess his undying love for him, he sees that Louis is already occupied by Claire. Harry watches with a soft smile as Claire whispers something in to Louis' ear, discreetly placing an object in Louis' hand and enclosing his fingers around it as she whispers, "You'll know when," into his ear. 

Harry frowns when he notices that Louis pulls away with a broken smile, but he choses not to say anything at all when Louis turns back to him with bright, blue eyes glancing at the necklace Harry has yet to put around his neck. And as much as Harry wants to question what weird thing was going on between Louis and Claire, he knew it wasn't his place. Harry knew that whatever it was that Claire gave to Louis needed to stay between them, and whenever the proper time came, then he'll know exactly what was going on between them, but until then, Harry's just going to enjoy the moment.

//

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****

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think Claire gave Louis?


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this story is kind of long and all over the place, but I do hope you enjoy. It has about 40 chapters total so I hope this turns out to be something you guys expected (: There are a lot of twists and turns to still come so be prepared. 
> 
> In this chapter, there is unnecessary drunk drama so enjoy haha

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**HarryStyles:** Christmas and birthday wishes to my boo xx 

**LouisTomlinson commented:** thank you bby xx best day spent with the best boy xx

//

Harry had always enjoyed the holidays. It was the time of year where he got to see his sister the most, and he always enjoyed her company whenever she came home to visit. They spent the better half of their time either bickering or watching movies, sometimes shopping or painting holiday nails. This holiday, in particular, Harry finally got to meet Gemma's boyfriend Chance and learned all the ins and outs of their relationship. So what Harry has gathered so far from their talks is that Gemma and Chance were together for two years, took a break for a year, and have been back together for half a year so they've had a rollercoaster of a relationship that Harry was surprised to learn about. Either way, he enjoyed meeting Chance, and loved that Gemma is happy with him. 

The holiday fiasco didn't stop there. They had a Christmas dinner like they always did, Gemma, Anne and Harry, but this year Chance and Robin were inlcluded, and out of the blue, Robin ended up proposing to Anne right as the ham in the oven pinged from being ready. It was fantastic, and Harry was nearly in tears as he watched his mother erratically nod her head yes. Harry had quickly ran upstairs to grab his camera and then started to take as may pictures as he could of Anne's ring and then everyone's reactions. It was truly the best moment ever, and Harry is so glad that he was able to witness all of it first hand. Unfortunately, despite all this great things happening, Harry didn't get to spend too much time with Louis this break. He saw Louis a couple of times at Chelsea games, even got lucky with spending the night with him a few times, but the majority of the time, Harry stayed with his family and Louis stayed with his own. It's the first Christmas in a long time that Louis was reconnected with his family so Louis had devoted everything inside of him to make it the best Christmas for his mother and sisters as he could. It was sweet, and Louis made sure to text Harry all the infamous updates that went on in the Tomlinson household. 

Thankfully, Harry got to spend Louis' twenty first birthday with him. Louis hung with his family for the majority of the day, finally getting to have this time with his mother, and then Harry luckily got to steal Louis away for dinner. Harry also managed to pay the bill and sneak Louis both birthday and Christmas gifts, giving Louis an Adidas hoodie he had been eyeballing for months and a few new pair of track suits that he liked to lounge around in. Harry also created a CD playlist for Louis to listen to whenever he wanted to be reminded of the songs that made Harry think of him. It was cheesy and romantic, but Louis snogged the living daylights out of Harry after receiving those gifts so Harry figured he did good with his presents. However, it didn't top Louis' Christmas presents for him. Harry tried to tell Louis he really didn't need any gifts, but of course Louis insisted. Louis had secretly bought Harry a bunch of blouses and trousers from Yves Saint Laurent the time they went shopping there, and he had them hidden in the back of his closet _for months_ just waiting for Christmas so he could gift Harry with all those clothes. It really was thoughtful, and Harry did wear the clothes every single day as much as he could. He really loved the shirts and the pants, and of course, he snogged the living daylights out of Louis as a thanks for what he did. 

Tonight thought, it is New Years Eve, and Louis is hosting a small celebration at his apartment that he invited Harry and his family to. The two boys hadn't seen each other since Louis' birthday so Harry is more than excited to _finally_ see his boyfriend after going days without doing so. They have had to resort to text messages and late night face time calls, and although Harry appreciated it, nothing did beat seeing his boy in person. 

"So," Gemma sighs as she walks into Harry’s bedroom where Harry is standing in the closet, eyeballing all his clothes and huffing when nothing peaks his interest. "Have you decided what you're going to wear yet?"

Harry slouches defeatedly. "No," he grumbles. He looks between some sparkly shirts and some shiny shirts, debating on which one he wants to show up in. When he can't decide, he frowns and glances at Gemma. "Don't you have a boyfriend to harass instead?" He walks out the closet to join Gemma on the bed. 

"I would love to bother him, but clearly, you're having a fashion crisis."

Harry groans and falls back on the mattress. "I just have no idea what to wear," he whines pathetically. 

Gemma hums and stands from the bed, walking right into Harry's closet to see what the options are. She notices a couple of shirts are already tossed on the ground, and a bunch of Harry's clothes are pulled from the hangers. Half of Harry's shoes are lazily tossed around, and it genuinely looks like Harry completely raided and destroyed his closet. It's kind of pathetic, but upon the mess everywhere, Gemma spots a specific blouse still hanging on the rack. She walks up to it and removes it from the hanger. It's a silk, shiny gray blouse with buttons, and she holds it out in front of her face for a couple seconds before she turns around to join Harry again, handing him the shirt. 

"What about this?" she questions. Harry raises his eyebrows and grabs the blouse from her hands. "It's not too showy, and it matches the New Year theme."

The blouse is actually one Louis had given him for Christmas. In all honesty, it makes Harry smile widely at the thought of showing up to Louis' party in something Louis purposely bought for him. It sounds romantic, and Harry likes the idea of knowing he's wearing a blouse Louis had intended on seeing Harry in.

"Okay," Harry agrees. "Now what about my pants and shoes?"

Gemma groans because Harry really is helpless. 

"Black jeans," she says right away. She walks back into the closet and grabs the first pair of ripped, black skinny jeans she finds before she's chunking it at Harry's chest. "As for shoes, I think the sparkly silver ones Louis got you would look brilliant."

Harry falters a bit. He swore Gemma is the one who gave him those boots for Christmas. 

"Wait, what?" Harry questions. 

Gemma turns at the sudden confusion in Harry's voice before she realizes her slip up. She leans against the doorway to Harry's closet and laughs nervously. "Oh, right," she sighs, nibbling on her bottom lip. "Yeah, _uh_ \- Louis helped me shop for you."

"He bought them, huh?" 

Unfortunately, Gemma nods. 

Harry is just about to make a further comment about the boots, but Chance starts calling out Gemma's name from down the hall. Gemma looks relieved that she is able to find her way out so she quickly scurries from Harry's room to find out what Chance wants. Harry remains sitting on the bed as he watches her fleeting figure before glancing at those said sparkly silver boots laid out next to his dresser. Harry sighs because he should have known Gemma would never spend the money to purchase Harry a gift like that. Now, come to think of it, most of the gifts that supposedly came from his family now seem a bit pricey as well, so really, Harry wouldn't be surprised if Louis had bought Harry gifts and used Harry's family as a ploy to spoil Harry with them. It could explain the expensive cologne his mother had apparently gotten him and the fancy headscarves Robin thought would look good in Harry's hair. Honestly, Harry isn't surprised by Louis' cleverness. Harry's gifts were such a giant contrast this year, and Harry makes a mental note to himself to ask Louis about it tonight so he knows who to properly thank. He also makes a mental note to maybe bring up the porn situation as well so he can stop being a mental head case over it. He caught another glimpse at Louis' laptop one night he spent the night to see that Louis visited _Men Hub_ again and watched a video of one bloke bent over the kitchen table getting fucked by another bloke.

 _Oof,_ Harry just shivers at remembering. 

After Harry gets dressed in the outfit Gemma helped pick out for him, he goes to check his phone to see the time and to see if Louis had messaged him. It's half an hour past seven, and Harry actually has three messages from his secretly money spending, gay porn watcher of a boyfriend. 

_I cant wait to see u tonight x_

_I really miss u bby_

_will u stay the night? & will u maybe get ur scrawny little ass over here soon? xx_

Harry giggles like a fool at the messages and quickly responds to all three, ensuring that he will get his family over there soon and that he had already intended on staying the night. Once he's settled, Harry finishes getting ready by fixing his hair up to make his curls look good and then replaces his contacts so he doesn't have to bother with his glasses for the night. He makes sure to clip his Lily necklace around his neck and to check his floral ring on his finger before he's skipping out the room and heading downstairs. Harry sees that Anne already has a bunch of New Years accessories out and about. She has a new years necklace and head band, Robin has a shiny silver hat and a couple necklaces as well. Gemma and Chance are both wearing new years glasses, and Harry gets immediately thrown a bunch of necklaces and headband to wear so they can be ready for the party. 

"Is everyone ready?" Robin asks when everyone is decorated.

Harry nods right away and is the first one out the front door. "Yes, we're ready. Let's go. Let's get a move on people. Louis wants me there already."

"Yeah, no shit," Gemma snorts, crawling in the car with Chance following behind. "Louis' a sappy boy in love with you."

"So sappy," Anne agrees with a giggle. 

Harry rolls his eyes at their comments and leans over the passenger seat to address his mother. "Also, Louis asked me to spend the night if that's okay."

"Of course," Anne smiles. 

Gemma smirks at Chance and hums, "Bow-chicka-wow-wow."

Harry turns his head immediately in her direction and just glares, not bothering to comment because truthfully, Harry is hoping he gets some sort of bow-chicka-wow-wow with Louis. Maybe it'll help Louis reconsider watching porn. 

They quickly pull up to Louis' complex and tell the guard their names. Robin pulls into the visitors parking lot and gets the car parked in the closest spot to the elevator. Harry nearly rushes out the door once the vehicle is no longer in motion, scurrying across Gemma's lap and running towards the elevator so he can start pressing the up button. Gemma starts laughing as her and the rest of the crew take their time walking over to join Harry. 

"Geez, baby bro," she teases, ruffling up Harry's curls. Harry frowns and smacks her hand. "You act like you haven't seen this boy in forever."

"Yeah, mate. You just saw him play yesterday," Chance reminds, but still, it was on the telly, and Harry wasn't actually at the game so it's completely different. It's been nearly _a week_ since Harry last saw Louis so yeah, he's pretty desperate to see his boyfriend. 

The elevator slowly but surely gets to the ground level, and all five of them pile inside. Harry presses the button Louis' apartment is on and patiently waits as the elevator goes up. It seems like everything in the world right now wants to take its time while Harry is in a rush to go see Louis. He swears the elevator spends at least a second on each floor before they finally make it to the top. And to make things even more difficult, Harry ended up squished in the back corner of the elevator so once it finally lands on Louis' floor, Harry has to practically weasel his way in between Gemma and Anne's body so he can rush down the hallway. Harry doesn't even wait for the rest of his party as he walks up to Louis' front door. He quickly opens it and is bombarded with the party that has already started. 

The entire living space is decorated with New Years stuff. Everyone around is either dressed in their brightest attire or their sparkliest. There's a good amount of people already there taking up space. Harry can see Lottie and Fizzy on the dance floor with Dan off to the side recording them with a laugh. Both those girls have New Years necklaces and hats on. There's a couple of Louis' football teammates there as well and a few others Harry hasn't met. He takes a brief survey around the room in hopes of finding Louis' eyes amongst the crowd, but upon entering the doorway, Daisy and Phoebe immediately bombard him.

"Harry," the twins cheer at the same time. 

Harry's face splits into the biggest smile as he crouches down to engulf both girls in the biggest hug. He briefly glances up to see his family entering the flat as well, but they all head to the bar and food area first and try to mingle along with the other guest. Harry ignores them and instead focuses on his favorite set of twins. 

"It's about time you got here," Phoebe chastises with a smile, giggling when Harry raises his eyebrows. 

"Sassy and you have gotten older. Are you sure you two are the same twins I met awhile ago?" Harry teases. 

"We _did_ have a birthday," Daisy reminds with a dramatic eye roll, like she couldn't believe Harry didn't know. 

Of course he knew. He baked them a cake. 

Harry remains in his crouching position as he continues to talk to the girls, knowing very damn well that Louis can wait when it comes to talking to his sisters. "So, how was Christmas. What did Santa bring?"

Phoebe brightens up. "Santa got us _so many_ toys. I can't wait to show you them."

"Louis got us bikes and told us he's going to teach us how to ride them," Daisy follows up with. 

Harry hums, glancing up again to see if he can find Louis. "And where exactly is that brother of yours?"

"He told us he was going to take shots in the kitchen," Phoebe answers. 

"Shots?" Harry gawks, frowning at Phoebe and then Daisy when they both nod. "How do you know what shots are?”

"I don't," Phoebe mutters.

"He said his friends want him to shot with them so he had to stop coloring with us," Daisy adds in, kind of upset her coloring time with her brother was interrupted. 

Harry pinches his eyebrows together. "Right," he smiles. "Did he say where these shots would be?"

Both Daisy and Phoebe point to their right where the kitchen is, and when Harry follows the movement, he sees a small group having gathered around the counter space. He can easily make out Liam and Zayn, even Jay is standing in the crowd, but when he sees the shorter man out of the group with his back towards Harry, that's when Harry knows Louis is right there in front of him. He really didn't look that hard earlier.

"Let me go see him, and then I'll meet you later to go color, deal?" Harry bargains with them. 

Daisy and Phoebe brighten up and agree so easily. Harry smiles at the both of them and presses a kiss to each of their cheeks before he's shooing them away. Harry misses Louis, and right now all he has on his mind is to go see him. Harry stands back up after watching the twins join Fizzy and Lottie on the dance floor. He watches the four of them for a couple of seconds and feels his heart swell inside his chest when they somehow manage to get Gemma to join them. It really makes Harry's insides feel all warm and jittery at seeing his and Louis' sisters already getting along. It reminded him of when Jay and Anne met for the first time and how easily they connected. Harry loves how their families mingle together so well, and it makes him fall for Louis _that much_ more - more than he had already fallen for. 

Harry sighs and eventually turns towards the kitchen. He sees Louis animatedly talking to Zayn about something while Liam shakes his head and Jay simply smiling. It really is an entertaining moment that Harry doesn't want to interrupt in, but well, he's Louis' boyfriend, and right now, he has every right to barge into the conversation and steal Louis' attention away from all his friends. So with an evil smirk, Harry tip toes his way towards Louis. He tries to remain quiet as he gets closer to Louis' back, and he somehow managed to catch Jay's eyes in the midst of his sneak attack so he quickly brings a finger up to his mouth to signal to Jay to remain quiet. Jay flashes a small but subtle smile at Harry before she's listening in on what Louis has to say, however, right when Harry is about to make his move to jump on Louis' back, Louis starts talking shit about him, almost as if he just knows Harry is right there by him. 

"Hey," Harry whines, jumping on Louis' back anyways.

Louis laughs and instinctively goes to hold Harry by grabbing his thighs. "Oh, wow. My beautiful boyfriend. What a pleasant surprise."

Harry's heart does this little thing where it gets all happy and warm simply from Louis' hands reaching out to hold his legs. It's such a small gesture, but it's one a good boyfriend does when he doesn't want his significant other to fall off of him. It's sweet, and Louis is obviously in love with him. He even tilts his head backwards so he can catch a small glimpse of the side of Harry's face and puckering his lips out as if asking for a kiss from Harry. Harry giggles, dies a little on the inside, and leans forward so they can finally kiss one another. After a long, almost week, of not being able to touch or kiss, it's like everything in the world is finally back to the way it should be the minute their lips touch. 

"I missed you, baby," Louis mutters against Harry's mouth, smiling as he leans in for more kisses. 

Harry hums. "I missed you more." He presses his lips just once more and then finally hops off Louis' back, walking around his body and pulling him into a tight hug, not even bothering to acknowledge everyone else who is still standing around in the small group. 

"Well, I missed you, too, Harry," Liam teases from his spot next to Louis. 

Harry blushes and tucks himself right into Louis' side, feeling his life become complete when Louis' arm wrap around his waist. Harry preens and rest his head on Louis' shoulder. 

"Yeah," Zayn pouts next. "Where's your love for seeing me again?"

Ronni, another one of Louis' teammates is on the other side Jay, who Harry can now see since snuggling into Louis' side. "I haven't seen Louis for a day, and he didn't greet me with a kiss."

"He only greeted me with an ass slap," Leevi, another teammate, speaks up next to Ronni, frowning pitifully. 

Harry glares playfully at the both of them and opts not to saying anything. Instead, he makes a show of snuggling further into Louis' neck with a smirk on his face. 

Jay, on the other hand, practically brightens up as she steps closer to both boys. "I, for one, know how much Louis has missed Harry," she admits, pressing her hand to Louis' shoulder, smiling proudly. "I had to listen to it all week so I will let them be."

"I missed you, too, Jay," Harry cheekily says, only detaching Louis for a second so he could pull Jay in for a quick hug before he's going back to Louis. "I just miss Louis slightly more."

Jay laughs as she leaves the little group to go seek out Anne in the crowd. Harry watches her off with a smile and slightly turns his body so his chest can rest up against Louis' side. He wraps his arms around Louis' waist and hugs him from this position, practically preening when Louis' arm is slung proudly around his shoulder. 

"You two aren't going to fuck are you?" Leevi questions bluntly, with a grimace he tries to hide behind a sip of his drink. The problem is that he genuinely means this question, not even looking the least bit of joking. 

Harry widens his eyes at the accusation and quickly looks at Leevi, scowling at him. Leevi raises his hands in the air defensively and takes a step back. Louis, on the other hand, tightens his hold on Harry, smirking. 

"Maybe just some tongue action."

Harry groans and slaps at Louis' chest. 

"That's romantic," Zayn snickers, subtly stepping away from them.

"Well, I'm not watching," Liam adds in, following Zayn slowly until the two are both turning to leave them be.

Leevi and Ronni remain in place. Leevi is casually drinking from his glass, and Ronni is looking at both the boys like he's waiting for the next conversation to start. Harry raises his eyes at the both of them before looking at Louis credulously, tilting his head in their direction to hint at Louis to do something. Louis shrugs in response and looks at his friends again, twisting his lips and widening his eyes hoping that its cue for something. 

Leevi finally realizes and puts his drink down. "Mate, I think we're being booted out of here," he informs Ronni. 

Ronni frowns. "Do you know how much money I could make if I sold a video of them snogging?" He's obviously teasing, but Harry still gawks.

"Okay, we're leaving," Leevi giggles, grabbing Ronni's arm and nearly dragging them away from the kitchen to go harass other people. 

Once Harry and Louis are finally alone, Harry moves around until he's in front of Louis, smirking as he leans to press their chest together. Louis smiles back and rest his hands low on Harry's back, yanking him impossibly closer as Harry caves his body into Louis'. 

"So, about that tongue action - " Harry hums, swaying them a little bit with his fingers tangling in the back of Louis' head, toying with Louis' baby hairs. 

Louis tilts his head back to let out a cackle as he moves Harry backwards to press him into the counter. He traps the boy there by placing his hands on the edges of the counter and stepping forward so their bodies are still touching. Louis inches his head closer and noses along the curve of Harry's jawline. 

"What about it?" Louis wonders lowly, breathing heavily out his nose as makes its way to Harry's ear, teasing him by pressing a kiss there. 

Harry rolls his eyes and uses his fingers holding on to Louis' hair to yank his head gently back. He gives Louis a small, cheeky smile and is then pushing Louis' head forward until his lips are meeting Harry's, and they easily slot their mouths together in an eager, desperate kiss. Harry practically mewls when he feels Louis' hands back on his body, starting on his hips before they are gliding their way over to his ass. Harry moans as he presses deeper in to the kiss, feeling Louis' tongue pushing it's way in between his lips before Louis is licking his way inside Harry's mouth, hands roughly squeezing Harry's ass as he does so, pulling the boy closer and rolling his hips just a little so their clothed cocks are forced to rub against one another. Their tongues twist together in Harry's mouth as Louis moves his hands to the underside of Harry's thighs before he's letting out a grunt to lift Harry up on the counter. Harry squeals against Louis' mouth and giggles once he's sitting on the counter top, opening his legs so Louis can slot himself perfectly in between and so Harry can trap Louis there by wrapping those said legs around Louis' waist. 

Louis easily goes forward until Harry and Louis are back to being face to face, Louis' fingers coming up and lightly tracing Harry's cheek. Harry smiles and presses his forehead against Louis', just breathing in the cologne that he's wearing and the slight sent of alcohol coming from his mouth. Harry can't resist and ends up kissing Louis' again, tightening his legs around Louis and arching his back into Louis' touch when Louis’ hands go underneath the back of Harry's shirt. 

"Louis," Harry breathes into the next kiss, too eager to have his lips touching Louis' rather than finding the voice to say anything else. He continues to kiss Louis, twisting their tongues together, licking their ways into each other's mouths, and feeling the hot press of Louis' hands touching his skin. All these things become slightly overwhelming for Harry, and the low beat of the music playing through the speakers and the soft chatter of everyone gathered in the flat remind Harry that they are not alone, and they both look pretty indecent having an intense snog on the kitchen counter. 

Harry retracts his head with a whine and bites his lip when Louis moves to kiss down his neck. Harry looks up at the ceiling for a moment to calm his breathing down, but his chest is rising and falling rapidly, his heart is about ready to beat out of his body, and when he looks past Louis to see that Gemma has now taken notice of them, Harry instantly flushes in embarrassment, soon parting his mouth in a breathless gasp when he feels Louis sucking a mark into the meat of his shoulder. 

"Louis," Harry says clearer this time, trying to calm Louis down by petting his hair. "We should probably get back to the party," he suggest, Louis groaning pitifully as he pulls his head away from Harry's neck, pouting as he looks at Harry. Harry giggles. "How much have you drank, babe?"

"Not enough," he complains, hands moving from Harry's back to the top of his thighs, squeezing as he leans forward to rub their noses together. "I had a few shots. Maybe a couple drinks. Maybe also a quick smoke with Zayn."

Louis smirks as he moves one hand from Harry's thigh to reach for the bottle of liquor next to his body. He grabs it and holds in front of them as he wiggles his eyebrows. Harry rolls his eyes, smiling, and grabs the bottle from Louis' hold. He takes two quick drinks of the liquor and grimaces after each one before he's practically thrashing the bottle back in Louis' hold. Louis laughs and sets it back to the side so he can go back to touching Harry. 

"Bleh," Harry complains, shaking his head and shivering. "So you're drunk is what you're telling me?" Harry accuses after the wave of the shot leaves his body. 

Louis raises his eyebrow in response. "No, baby, I'm horny."

Harry's eyes widen, and he flicks his eyes down in between their bodies to see the slight bulge in Louis' pants. Harry stares at it for a second and gulps, feeling his cheeks heating up at Louis' implications. This is the bow-chicka-wow-wow that Harry is wanting, and he's more than excited to be the one to help Louis with his hard on rather than the gay porn on his laptop. Harry feels accomplished and slightly horny himself, blinking his eyes back to Louis and grinning. 

"I can definitely help with that."

Louis all but squeals as he grabs Harry from the counter. He keeps his hand on Harry's hip and uses his other hand to gab the bottle of liquor before he's guiding the both of them through the party. They are able to remain incognito to avoid any of their family members. They make it successfully to Louis' bedroom and quickly close and lock the door behind them before Louis is skipping his way towards the edge of his bed. Harry starts laughing as he walks his way in between Louis' legs, purposely making a show of placing his thighs on either side of Louis' hips so he can plant himself comfortably in Louis' lap. Louis jolts when Harry sits his ass on top of his growing bulge, raising his eyebrow in interest when Harry grips Louis' shoulder so he can balance himself on Louis. Louis holds on to Harry's hips as Harry starts to rock them back and forth, nibbling on his lip as Louis closes his eyes with a moan. Harry giggles and continues to rock his hips in the direction, soon swiveling them around in circles and grinding them deeper into Louis' lap to make Louis' eyes nearly roll in to the back of his head. Louis' fingers dig deeper into Harry's hips as he continues to rub his ass over Louis' groin, and just when Louis feels like he's about to come from this, Harry is pulling off his lap. Louis opens his eyes and frowns when Harry goes to stand in front of him, but that frown soon turns into a smirk when Harry's hands reach out for the button on Louis' pants. 

Harry gets Louis jeans down to his ankles until Louis' cock is hard and exposed. He already has some pre-come spluttering out the tip, so Harry reaches forward and grips the head of Louis' cock. Louis' body instantly tenses as Harry strokes his hand slowly up and down Louis' length, managing to get on his knees in between Louis' legs and leaning forward to press a small kiss to the tip. Harry holds Louis' eye contact as he opens his mouth wide before he's feeding himself Louis' cock, wrapping his lips halfway down Louis' length and covering the rest with his hand. Louis all but whines once he gets inside Harry's mouth, fingers curling in to Harry's curls and idly pushing Harry’s head down so the warmth of Harry's lips can go further down his cock. Harry chokes a little bit, breathing deeply out his nose and relaxing his throat as he swallows more of Louis. Harry lets Louis guide the bobbing of his head by the hand he has tangled in Harry's hair. His mouth starts to drag up and down the length of Louis' cock with his tongue pressing on the underside of it until Harry is getting back to the tip and suckling gently to get the small dribbles of come on his tongue. Louis closes his eyes and moans, bucking his hips up one, two, three times until he's coming down Harry's throat, and since Harry is just an angel sent from the heavens, he swallows every last drip of Louis until he's dry. 

"Fuck," Louis breathes out, looking up at the ceiling. "Fuck, thank you God for giving me Harry Styles."

Harry giggles and pops off of Louis. He rest back on his thighs and wipes his mouth. "That good, huh?" Harry smirks. 

"The fucking best," Louis responds as he looks back at Harry, preening when he sees how plump, red, and swollen Harry's lips look right now. "Fuck, you can suck my cock whenever you want. You're so damn good at it."

Harry blushes and moves off the ground, helping Louis pulls his pants back up his legs. "I'm not that good," he admits shyly, smiling as he latches Louis' button. "It's only my third one I've given you."

"And you've sucked my brains out each time."

"Stop" Harry giggles, nibbling on his lip. 

Once the two of them get relatively decent, meaning they took more shots of the liquor and Louis giving Harry a quick hand job, they go back into the party and mingle with the guest. Louis finds some of teammates for a couple more shots, and Harry quickly grabs himself a drink before the twins are hunting him down to drag him into a coloring session. Harry smiles and gladly joins them at the coffee table in the living room, taking his seat in between each twin. 

"What do we have here?" Harry wonders, taking a sip of the punch before he sets it down. 

Phoebe hands Harry a box of colors. "We are coloring," she informs. 

"Here," Daisy says next, handing Harry a page from the coloring book. It happens to be a princess. 

Harry giggles and begins coloring the page he was given. He occasionally glances at Phoebe and Daisy to see how their coloring is coming along, and he he sees that the majority of their coloring is outside the lines and a complete mess. It's so cute and endearing, and Harry ends up watching them color more than coloring himself, but then he gets easily distracted when he hears Louis' voice over the sound of the music so he looks up to see what he's doing. However, the second Harry looks up, he catches Louis pulling a girl into a hug, the same girl Harry once caught Louis snogging on the couch with, and he feels his entire happy demeanor suddenly shift into jealously and slight anger. 

"Harry," Phoebe calls out, causing Harry to drag his eyes away from that chick to look at Phoebe. "You're my favorite," she admits. 

Harry smiles a little, only a little. He has his boyfriend a few feet over who watches gay porn and hugs his old shagging partner so Harry's finding it hard to smile. 

"Do you now?" he questions. 

"Oh, yeah," Phoebe nods her head like it's serious business. 

"You play with us a lot," Daisy notes. 

"Yeah, Eleanor never wanted to spend time with us," Phoebe then pouts, looking up as well to see Louis talking to who Harry suspects is Eleanor. "She always wanted to be with Louis alone."

Daisy frowns. "She always took him away from us."

Harry sets his crayon down and looks at Louis again, feeling his stomach twist in an unusual way when Louis' arm goes around Eleanor's waist. "What?" he squawks at the twins. 

"That's Eleanor, the one bubba is talking to," Daisy explains to Harry. "They were like what you two are now."

Harry frowns, feels his heart sinks a little, and suddenly wants to cry. He doesn't, but the feeling is there. 

"But I asked Bubba one time and he said they were different," Phoebe adds in. "She wasn't his Princess."

"You're his Princess," Daisy giggles. 

Harry flicks his eyes quickly over to Phoebe, ignoring the Princess comment. "Louis and Eleanor were in a relationship? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Phoebe nods her head and actively points to where now Louis and Eleanor are standing way too close for Harry's comfort. Harry feels a mixture of anger and jealously again, and he doesn't know whether he wants to ball up and cry to himself or march over there to rip Louis away from her. It really is a tough battle going in his head. 

"Lottie once said they were bed buddies," Daisy eventually says, not even realizing what she's implying. "For lots of years I think. Maybe three years. One, two, three."

"Mummy would get so mad when Lottie said that though," Phoebe mumbles under breath, aggressively coloring her page now. 

Harry swallows and looks over at them again, furrowing his eyebrows together when he sees Louis leaning in to kiss Eleanor on the cheek. And _that,_ that is what sends Harry over board. He was already being bombarded with all this information about Louis and Eleanor, but seeing them so close and comfortable with one another is making Harry nauseous. He once caught the two of them nearly naked on the couch together before. Harry had walked in on them about to have sex, and now that Harry and Louis are together, Harry figured that Louis wouldn't keep in contact with people he used to carelessly fuck. Well, in their case, they been fucking for years so that makes Harry feel even more shittier. 

Harry excuses himself from the coloring session and hastily stands on his feet. He sways a little bit when all the alcohol and shots he's already drank rushes to his head so he has to steady himself for a second before he's turning on his heel and rushing straight towards the door. Harry tries to keep himself out of sight on his way out the door. He doesn't really know where he's going or what he plans to do, but he knows he can't sit in this flat anymore and watch his boyfriend fondle his ex girlfriend. Harry is way too past the point of sober to handle any of this so he needs to clear his mind and get some fucking fresh air. However, the second Harry stomps past Louis, Louis takes notice almost right away. 

"Harry, baby," he calls out, rushing after Harry, tripping over his feet and grabbing on to Harry's arm once they make it past the front door. "Where are you going?"

Harry groans and turns to face Louis, yanking his arm free from his hold. "I'm going home," he settles with, feeling a rush of tears to his eyes. 

"Harry," Louis sighs, but Harry is already turning around again to leave, and Louis is quick to grab his arm again. "Wait, please. Stop turning away from me." Harry rolls his eyes and continues to walk down the hallway, eyes fully set on making it to the elevator. Louis huffs and uses all his might to yank Harry back into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around Harry's waist to keep him in place. "You're not leaving here like this."

Harry starts squirming, still tipsy, still clumsy as ever. "Louis, let me go," he nearly growls. 

"Hey, calm down, baby. Just tell me what's wrong."

Harry huffs, laughing bitterly, and finally stops trying to squirm out of Louis' hold. "Don't call me baby."

"What?" Louis questions confusedly, cocking his head back, slightly offended. 

Harry rolls his eyes and now pries Louis' hands off of him, abruptly turning around to make eye contact with him. "You're flirting with the girl I caught you snogging on the couch with, _Lewis_. She - and you - and I saw - and - " Harry pauses with a loud groan. 

Before Louis has a chance to actually respond to the accusations, the elevator dings on the floor and Louis is looking past Harry to see who is now arriving. He knows the two of them look completely ridiculous standing there in the hallway, both tipsy, both arguing, both looking right near manic, but when Louis sees the girl coming in to view, he steps to the side of Harry and starts to smile. 

"Hanna?" he breathes out in surprise, walking straight to the girl who is looking equally as happy at seeing him. The two pull each other in a hug, and Harry slumps as he watches, getting even more emotional when they kiss each other on the cheek. 

"Are you kidding me?" Harry then nearly shouts. "How many other bloody girls do you like to kiss, Louis?"

Louis pulls back from Hanna, giving her an apologetic smile before glancing at Harry like he's crazy. "I've told you about Hanna."

"Did you really?" Hanna starts laughing, shaking her head. "I still get so nervous when I tell my boyfriends about how odd my relationship with you was. Gosh."

Harry nearly breaks down as he looks at Louis, narrowing his eyes and quickly walking past the both of them. Harry purposely shoulder checks Louis and heads straight towards the elevator, anxiously pressing the down button and groaning when he realizes he's going to have to wait until the elevator gets back on the floor. Fuck, he missed his shot in leaving when Hanna arrived. 

"I'm sorry," Louis mumbles to her. 

"It's okay, Lou," she laughs, soon pointing to the door. "I'm just going to go inside. Good luck."

Louis raises his eyebrows and quickly rushes down the hallway once the two are left alone. He makes it to Harry quickly and wraps his arms around his waist again. "Harry, will you -"

"No," Harry whines, wiggling free from Louis' hold again with a loud, dramatic huff. " _You_ keep hiding things from me, and I'm tired of it. First, the porn. Then the institution. Then the secret Christmas presents. Then Eleanor, and now this Hanna girl? What the fuck?"

"Porn?" Louis gawks in confusion. 

"It's like I can't get any truth from you," Harry continues. 

Louis rolls his eyes and grabs Harry's wrist, pressing the up button with his other hand. "Will you just come with me?" Harry doesn't respond, simply looks away. "Harry, please?"

"No."

Louis huffs and finally takes matters in to his own hands. He lets go of Harry's wrist and gets his arms underneath Harry so he can pick him up bridal style. Harry squeals when he's lifted and complains the whole time Louis holds him. The elevator eventually shows up, and Louis walks them inside and presses the roof button to take Harry there instead of letting him leave. Harry furrows his eyebrows and complains some more, but he remains perfectly kept in Louis' arms and waits for the ride to the roof until the elevator doors are opening. Harry's eyes widen in surprise when Louis steps out onto the ground of the roof to see the entire place completely decorated, not something he is expecting at all. In the far end of the roof, there is a red couch with a throw blanket tossed across the top. There is fairy lights hanging from the wooden pergola set up over the sitting area, and there are fake candles scattered across with various vases of Lilies placed. Harry lets out a breath as he finally gets set on his feet, taking a step forward and looking out in front of him. 

"What is this?"

Louis sighs and presses his hand to the base of Harry's spine, guiding him over to the couch. "I was going to surprise you with this before midnight," he explains. Once Louis gets Harry sitting on the couch, he spreads his legs and crouches down in between them, placing his hands on top of Harry's thighs. When Harry doesn't pull away, simply looks down at him with wide, glassy green eyes, Louis lets out a deep breath. "Now, do you mind telling me what's driving you mad?"

Harry bites his lip. "Your sisters told me about Eleanor - how you two were _bed buddies_ for years."

"Oh," Louis frowns, breathing deeply. "Love those little rascals, huh?” He teases weakly, shaking his head. “We weren't in a relationship, if that's what you're thinking. It was just sex between us."

"You said that - "

"I meant when I said I don't have hook ups. She's actually one of my good friends, but we did sleep together occasionally. We used each other for sex. It was _just_ physical."

"Daisy said you were with her for three years," Harry admits sadly, feeling his heart slightly twing in pain. In all honesty, Harry is more upset about the fact that Louis spent all that time with Eleanor and never fell in love with her. Sure, Louis has had a past with other people, and he's had sex before, but Harry doesnt like that Louis spent all this time with Eleanor and didn't have feelings. Harry doesn't know how that can happen, and it makes him worry about his own relationship with Louis.

What if they are together for three years and Louis doesn't fall in love with him? What if it _really_ is just sex for Louis? He’s so tipsy right now, honestly, who let him drink?

"Hey, baby," Louis breathes out, reaching up to caress the side of Harry's face. "I never looked for a relationship with her. It was just hook ups and that's it. We don't really hang out or have an emotional connection. I promise you, love, it was sex only."

Well, that makes Harry feel only _slightly_ better, but still. It's hard for him to accept that Louis can just sleep with someone for three years and not develop feelings for them. Fuck, he’s also thinking about the porn again, and he wants to cry over how emotional he’s being. 

Harry sighs, deflating a little. "What about that Hanna girl? She said you had an odd relationship."

"You just want to know everything, huh?" Louis asks, not even slightly bothered. 

"You know all mine," Harry grumbles. "Tanner, and we did nothing."

"Fair enough," Louis agrees. "Well, she's my best friend, currently in Uni right now, but we still find time to see one another. She was the first girlfriend I ever had, and she's the first person I actually tried and did stuff with. That's why she said it was odd. We trusted each other to be each other's first in sexual things, but it was never anything beyond that. We just wanted to get experience, and I do love her, but like in a friendly way. I love her kind of like how you love Niall."

"I _never_ had sex with Niall," Harry screeches. 

Louis huffs, slightly frustrated. "Look, Harry, I trusted her at the time. I was like fifteen when it happened, and I was nervous as shit to have sex with _anyone_ so we decided to just learn together." Harry twists his lips to the side, looking down at his lap where Louis is holding on to his thighs. "I promise, Harry, it was a long time ago, and we've moved on. She's been with her boyfriend for like two years now. Well, they broke up, which is who I went on the club crawl with, but nothing happened. I just watched her while she partied out her sadness."

Harry still didn't look convinced of something. 

"What is it, baby?"

Harry swallows and looks back a Louis. "Did you have someone help you learn how to do stuff with guys then?"

"Yeah, I suppose." Louis blows air past his lips. "His name was Flynn, and he was also my - "

"Let me guess, best friend," Harry answers with a bite to his tone.

Louis shrugs. "We were friends," he explains with a frown, squeezing Harry's thighs. "It was really complicated between us. We were sort of boyfriends, but we never actually labelled it. I experimented with him and all that, but I would never say we were dating or that I was in love with him. I was kind of a twat growing up and just wanted to gain experience in sex."

Harry finally lets out a big breath he's been holding in and looks like he's ready to believe Louis. He slouches back into the couch and grabs Louis by the shirt to pull him up. Louis easily leans forward in between Harry's legs and rests their chest together. 

"I'm sorry I freaked out," Harry sighs, arms winding around Louis' neck. "The alcohol and being bombarded with everything kind of overwhelmed me I guess." Louis smiles and presses a kiss to Harry's lips. "I'm just - " Harry breathes out, tilting his head back to properly look at Louis. "It makes me feel bad knowing you've been in these relationships before me and - "

"They weren't relationships," Louis reassures right away, kissing Harry again. "These people have nothing compared to you. You're my relationship. You're the one I have feelings for."

Harry finally cracks a smile, kissing Louis again. It’s like all of Harry’s worries suddenly wash away once he gets the taste of Louis on the tip of his tongue again. This is what happens when Harry’s drinks. He over drinks, over reacts, and gets overly emotional. He’s a mess, and honestly, Louis is a turd for ever giving him that liquor bottle in the first place. Whatever, Harry just kisses Louis some more until Louis is rolling over to the side of Harry to join him on the couch, arm wrapping around Harry’s shoulder. 

“We have ten minutes until midnight,” Harry notes with a smile, resting his head on Louis’ shoulder, sighing when Louis presses a kiss to his forehead. 

Louis hums thoughtfully. “So do you have any resolutions for the New Year then?”

 _Yeah,_ Harry bitterly thinks. _Not letting my boyfriend watch porn behind my back bother me as much as it currently does,_ he tells himself. But that isn’t what he tells Louis, obviously. 

“I’m not sure,” Harry settles with, frowning a little. “I want to get more involved with photography this year. Like, I really want to invest in creating a profile and searching for lasting careers.”

”You’ll do amazing.”

Harry’s smiles. “You think?” he questions, feeling Louis nod. Harry sighs appreciatively. “What about you?” 

Louis moves a hand to Harry’s thigh and squeezes, humming quietly. “I’m not sure I can think of one,” he admits, feeling Harry’s thigh under his hand getting replaced with Harry’s hand. Louis smiles when their fingers lock together. “I mean, I fixed things with my mum, I have you as a boyfriend, I’m doing good with footie, what more can I want?

“You’re so lame and sappy,” Harry giggles. 

"Hey,” Louis retaliates with a whine, poking at Harry’s cheek where he sees his beautiful dimple making an appearance. 

“Don’t poke me with your greasy finger.” Louis rolls his eyes and snorts, soon turning it into a full on laugh that has Harry pulling his head away with a frown, looking at Louis like he’s crazy. “What’s so funny?” Harry wonders.

Louis begins shaking his head as he calms down from laughing. “What you said was funny.” 

“Is there a joke or something?” Harry questions, almost hopefully. “Tell me it. I’m the master at jokes.” 

Louis starts laughing again. “You’re the worst with jokes.” 

“Hey,” Harry pouts, taking his turn in poking Louis’ cheek. “Just tell me what was so funny.” 

Louis groans like it’s the most inconvienent thing for him to do. “Fine,” he agrees with a huff, smirking a little. “I was just thinking that there are other places I can poke you that is far more better than your face ...”

Harry groans, swatting at Louis’ chest. “What, my asshole?” Harry blurts blunty. 

Louis loses it at that, full on laughing, tilting his head back. “Oh, shit,” He giggles, shaking his head. “Harry, what the fuck? You dirty little boy.” 

“It was _your_ joke,” Harry responds with a grumble, giggling a little. “Gosh, you drew this side out of me.” 

Louis rolls his eyes and squeezes Harry’s hand, bringing it to his lips to press kisses to Harry’s knuckles. “You’re perfect to me - for me.”

Harry blushes at the comment and turns his head to press a kiss to Louis’ neck. He then settles his body comfortably next to Louis’, and the two of them look out over the rooftop of the complex to look at the night sky starting to fill with fireworks. Harry smiles as those fireworks begin going off in the sky, and they can start to hear the faint countdown of the New Year being chanted from all the people inside the complex and those that are outside. Harry bites his lip and turns back to Louis, noticing that Louis’ already looking at him, a warm smile on Louis’ lips and the reflection of colorful fireworks in his blue eyes. 

_Fuck,_ Harry is in love with him. 

Louis ends up standing to his feet when they only have a few seconds left of December, and he drags Harry up with him. Louis presses their bodies close and wraps an arm around Harry’s lower back while the other goes to caress Harry’s face. They continue to just stand there and look at one another, listening to the fireworks going off in the sky until the final countdown reaches one, and then Louis is pressing forward, kissing the living day lights out of Harry and dipping him backwards a little bit as December turns into January, the new year. Harry gasps into the kiss, feeling Louis’ tongue wedge it’s way into his mouth and Louis’ arms tightening around his hold as they kiss, a warm, passionate kiss that leaves tingles spreading throughout Harry’s body.

When they finally pull back, Louis looks into Harry’s eyes, gleaming, having his boy in his arms underneath the night full of fireworks and the enterance to the new year around them. Harry feels his heart beating heavily in his chest, and right when he plans to lean in for another kiss, Louis is tilting his head back a little. 

“What were you saying about porn?” he ends up asking.

And well, Harry kisses him instead of answering. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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 **HarryStyles:** Love giving them to you (; 


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How many times is "Whatever" used in this chapter?

**I N S T A G R A M**

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//

"I think out of all the months we’ve been together, this is the first time I actually have the urge to kill you,” Harry announces as he joins Louis at the kitchen table, a frown on his face when he places their breakfast plates down. He may have slammed Louis’ plate a little bit more aggressively than his own.

Louis glances up at him and smiles, cheekily. “Oh, come on,” he whines, pouting as Harry takes a seat across from him. “You just look too cute in the mornings. I can’t resist.” 

“Is it your background already?” Harry questions, forking the eggs he made. 

Louis hums, glancing down at the food and refusing to answer. _Gosh_ , Louis is so in love with Harry that it makes Harry nearly die inside. 

“I take that as a yes,” Harry ends up saying with a giggle, shaking his head when Louis does that cheeky smile where his eyes crinkle at the sides. Harry’s heart swells, and he tries to not show how too gone he is for Louis by occupying his lips with a sip of tea. 

“You know,” Louis mumbles, pointing his fork at Harry. “You should move in with me.” 

And well, _that_ is definitely not something Harry expects to hear so he ends up choking on his tea, coughing it up and having it dribble down on his chin. Harry quickly grabs the closest napkin and begins wiping his face, still in shock at Louis’ suggestion. 

“What?” Harry questions breathlessly, still not sure he heard Louis quite right. 

The thing is, Harry did hear Louis loud and clear, he just still can’t believe Louis is the one who mentioned it. Harry practically lives with Louis already, it’s been like an unspoken thing considering Harry spends just about every single night at Louis’ flat. Some of his clothes have even started to transfer into Louis’ drawers, and his toiletries have been taking over Louis’ bathroom. Harry even does the groceries and some chores like he does live there. Hell, he even has a designated sink in the bathroom for the mornings. The only thing he doesn’t have is a key to make it offical. 

“You pretty much live here already,” Louis notes, smiling as he reaches across the table to grab Harry’s hand, lacing their fingers together and pressing a kiss to Harry’s knuckles. “This is your sixth day in a row staying with me. Why not make it offical?” 

Harry opens his mouth and then closes it. He tries again, but then the only thing that comes out is a choked sound. Harry takes in a deep breath and swallows. “Are you serious?” he finally manages to say, squeezing Louis’ hand. 

If it were up to Harry, which it is, he would be moving in with Louis already. If Harry could, and he can, he would bring his entire life here and live with Louis for as long as he dreams of. Which, again, he can. Louis is literally asking him right then and there, and Harry is still too shocked to even answer him. All Harry is thinking about is how he isn’t even needed at home with his mother anymore and how much he is _very needed_ here with Louis. Anne and Robin are engaged now, and Harry technically is supposed to be living at Uni if not for photography, so really, nothing is stopping Harry from agreeing. He loves Louis’ place, and he loves how domestic the two of them are, and honestly, he just _loves_ Louis. 

Ever since New Years, Harry has constantly been at Louis’ place. It’s like they can’t get enough of each other. Just last week for Harry’s birthday, Louis hogged Harry for the entire day. Harry’s pretty sure he didn’t even see his mother or Robin at all that day, which, he didn’t mind one bit. Louis spoiled him with so many gifts and a fancy dinner, and Louis even made a joke about the two of them practically being roommates already since Harry went home with Louis that night, so it’s not like Harry shouldn’t be surprised Louis finally asked. He should be estatic, he _is_ estatic. Harry’s just too much of a head case to actually voice this though. He’s still in shock, and he’s in love so a lot is going on. 

“I’m serious, baby,” Louis says in response to Harry’s question, laughing at the still shocked look on Harry’s face. “I love having you here. You’re good company.” 

Harry’s heart jumps when Louis says _love_. It’s not directed technically to his human being, but hearing that Louis loves to have him makes Harry want to cry and laugh and blush. Harry almost does all three, mainly just blushes. 

“Yes,” Harry finally cheers, widening his grin and nodding his head like it’s the last thing he’ll ever get to do. He stands up from his chair and walks in between Louis’ spread legs so he can pull him in a tight hug, laughing softly into the crook of Louis’ neck. “Yes, I’ll move in with you.” 

Harry starts pressing kisses all over Louis’ face until he finally meets Louis’ lips in a proper kiss. Harry is just about ready to drop to his knees and suck Louis off for being a fantastic boyfriend that he’s in love with, but then the phone buzzing in his pocket abruptly pulls them apart. Harry groans and plops himself on Louis’ lap instead, smiling when Louis’ arm wrap around his waist to hold him place while he reaches for his phone. 

“It’s Matt,” Harry informs Louis, feeling Louis hooking his chin over his shoulder. “He asked if I could come in today.” 

Harry turns to look at Louis as if waiting for his response. Louis shrugs his shoulders and digs his fingers into the pudge of Harry’s hips. “Let’s go,” Louis says as he pats Harry’s bum to get him up. “I have to go in I think.” 

Harry hums and stands to his feet, replying to Matt’s message quickly. The two of them finish off the rest of their breakfast before Harry is taking their plates to the sink. He’ll do the dishes later. Louis grabs his keys off the key rack by the front door and waits for Harry to join him so the two can walk out together. They take the elevator down to the parking garage and get inside Louis’ Range Rover. It’s actually one of the few times Harry has ever seen Louis drive this vehicle. Louis mainly tries to get Harry to drive it as his subtle way of giving Harry the car. Whatever, Harry gets in the passenger seat and remains quiet, occupying himself by finding something on the radio while Louis drives them to Stamford Bridge. Once they get inside the stadium, Louis heads into the lounge where the coaches office is and Harry heads towards Matt’s office. 

“Hey, Matt,” Harry greets when he walks into the room, seeing Matt sitting at his desk clicking around on his computer. “What’s going on?” Harry walks over to take a seat in front of Matt’s desk. 

“You’re not in trouble, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Matt informs almost right away, laughing at the slightly relieved look on Harry’s face. “The money for last season and this season’s banners has finally came in. I got your pay.” 

Harry’s eyes widen in shock. “What? I’m getting paid for that?”

Matt scoots his chair back a little and opens one of his drawers. He pulls out an envelope and hands it to Harry with a smile. “Well, you did do the labor of taking pictures of the whole team,” Matt reminds, laughing when Harry opens the envelope to see the wad of money on the inside. Harry nearly chokes. “You did them for both seasons so you get both payments. I think last year when you first took them something went wrong with the money, but I guess now you get all of it at once.” 

Harry is breathless as he folds the envelope back up, tucking it underneath his arm. “Wow, I definitely wasn’t expecting that much.”

“It is great pay,” Matt notes more to himself, softly humming before he drums his fingers on top of his desk. “Another thing - I wanted to let you know that you’ve been listed as a Photographer for Chelsea, and you get full credit for the banners and the pictures you’ve taken. I believe I listed you as my assistant for the past year so if you ever apply to a job, you can have a proper title for your experience here.”

Honestly, Harry is about to have a heart attack with all this. 

“Really?” Harry questions, still in such a state of shock that he can’t even properly breathe. “This is amazing, thank you,” he tells Matt, earnestly, standing up so he can pull Matt in for a hug. “You’ve been the greatest mentor ever. I can’t thank you enough.” 

"Of course, of course. You've helped me so much so It's really been an honor for me."

Harry and Matt both stand from their seats so Harry can give Matt a proper hug. He thanks the latter about a couple more times until he finally leaves so Matt can get back to his work. Harry steps out into the tunnels and doesn't see Louis yet, but he does see Liam walking out the locker room. Harry remains by Matt's door and smiles as Liam walks up to greet him, a smile on both their faces as they hug one another. 

"Hey, bud," Liam says, pulling back so he can stand across Harry on the other side of the wall. 

Harry twists his lips to the side and turns to look down the tunnel. "Hey. Do you know where Louis is?"

"I'm glad to know you like seeing me as well," Liam teases with a laugh, lazily kicking his leg out to hit Harry's shin. 

Harry glances back at Liam and frowns. "I'm sorry," he says, genuinely looking apologetic. "Hey, how are you?" Harry questions much chirpier. 

Liam rolls his eyes. "He should be out any minute," Liam responds to Harry question, smiling as he walks out the tunnel to step foot on the field. Harry watches him off until Liam hits a jog around the pitch, and then Harry is turning his head down the tunnel expectedly waiting for Louis to come out any second. 

As if on cue, Louis is walking out the locker room door as well, a phone pressed to his ear and his eyes rolling in annoyance to whatever the person on the other line is saying. He looks stressed and slightly irritated, arguing on his walk over to Harry, but when he gets within reaching distance of the boy, Louis relaxes almost instantly. His face softens to a smile, and his free hand is reaching out to pull Harry into his side. Harry blushes instantly when he has Louis' arm around his waist, feeling like they are perfectly slotted together as he places his head on Louis' shoulder and remains quiet so Louis can continue the conversation on the phone. 

"Yes, Zayn," Louis finally grumbles, guiding the two of them towards the exit. "We're about to fucking leave. Why don't you chill, yeah?" Louis mutters some more incoherent words into the line until he's finally pocketing his phone with a loud groan. They stop about halfway in the tunnel so Louis can hug Harry, no reasoning behind it. He just pulls Harry against his chest and lets out a big breath. It's been a long while since Harry had actually seen Louis get slightly angry. Ever since the two of them had been dating, everything with Louis had been pretty calm so it is a little surprising for Harry to see that small surge of anger rush inside of Louis. Thankfully, Harry is calming him down, and Harry is so in love with him he can't even _breathe_ properly. 

"Is everything okay?" Harry wonders, running his hands up and down Louis' back in a comforting way. Harry can literally feel every tense muscle in Louis' body starting to loosen up simply from his touch, and he's constantly reminded from all those voices in the back of his head that Louis is in love with him, too. 

Louis sighs. "Yeah, I just completely forgot I'm supposed to be a guest on some talk show this evening."

"You have an interview?" Harry wonders surprisedly, slightly pulling back to look at Louis, furrowing his eyebrows together because honestly Harry forgets that his boyfriend is kind of famous and sometimes has to do famous things like appear on TV. What a crazy world. 

"I do," Louis grumbles with a nod, reaching down to grab Harry's hand so they can continue to walk towards the exit. Louis is already pushing his luck by telling his assistant that he forgot about the interview, now Louis really needs to make sure that he doesn't take too much time and miss his styling session with Gigi. "Zayn was giving me shit because I'm going to be stressing Gigi out even more now that I'm going to show up unprepared."

Harry hums and opts to remain silent, just letting himself be held and guided by Louis as Louis' way of remaining calm. It works, and by the time they are walking out the stadium and heading back to the car, Louis is fully relaxed. Louis opens the passenger side for Harry and makes sure he gets securely inside before he walks around the hood of the car to get in the drivers side. Apparently the talk show Louis is supposed to be on is on the other side of London, and he has about an hour to get there before Zayn and Gigi get mad at him. So they rush out the parking lot and avoid as much traffic as they can. When they pull up to the building the interview is being held at, Louis informs the guards who he is before he is driving around back to park in his designated guest spot. Louis sees Zayn and Gigi's cars already parked next to his, and he's sure he's going to hear a mouthful from the two of them once he actually sees them. Louis decides to keep Harry close to his side because he thinks that maybe they'll be a little nicer if Harry's sweet face is there. Really, it's Louis' fault for completely forgetting he has an interview today, but then again, it's also Zayn's fault for not reminding him days leading up to it. Honestly, Zayn is Louis' assistant. Whatever. 

Louis is lucky there is no fans or paparazzi when they do actually get there. The majority of them were waiting by the front gate where he pulled in, but when they get into the back lot, they are in the clear. There is a couple photographers from the building who take pictures of Harry and Louis arriving together, but overall, they remain free from the flashing lights and invasive questions. Louis keeps his arm wrapped around Harry's waist with Harry's hand clinging to his bicep. They make it inside the building with much ease and follow the direction to Louis' changing room from one of the guards. Louis pushes the door open that has his name printed on the front and walks in with much relief when he doesn't see Gigi nor Zayn in there waiting for him. He's more the thankful he gets a few seconds of peace before his time gets occupied with makeup and wardrobe. Louis drags Harry over to the couch and falls on the cushions before he's pulling Harry on top of him, holding him close to his chest and groaning dramatically into his hair. Harry giggles. 

"Did all that walking tire you out?" Harry teases. 

Louis groans again. "I don't wanna be on camera." He wraps his legs and arms completely around Harry's body and just clings to him. It makes Harry smile like a fool. 

"But you're my big bad famous boyfriend. The world has got to see you at some point."

Louis pulls his head back a little and laughs. "I'd much rather stay hidden with you."

Harry blushes at the comment and leans forward to bury his head into Louis' neck, wiggling his body on top of Louis' to make a show of himself snuggling further into him. Louis laughs some more as he runs his hands up and down Harry's back, knowing very well that Harry gets all mushy gushy when he says sweet shit like that. It's probably why he keeps saying sweet things to Harry. He loves the way Harry reacts to it every time, plus, as an added bonus, he gets Harry cuddling deeper into his bones so really, it's a win-win for Louis. Their moment, however, does get interrupted when the door to the dressing room gets opened, and Gigi and Zayn are bustling inside. 

"Hey, no sex before an interview. You know the rules," Gigi scolds right away, lugging her briefcase across the room until she's setting it on top of the vanity with a huff. She pats it a couple times and then turns to Louis and Harry on the couch, raising her eyebrows at the somewhat compromising position they're in. 

Louis laughs, but Harry just ... frowns. He pulls himself away from Louis' body and takes a proper seat on the far end of the couch so Louis can be free to join Gigi at the vanity. Harry doesn't want to think too much about the comment or let what Gigi said get to him, but like, at the same time, has Louis had sex before an interview to have Gigi make a comment like that? Whatever, Harry isn't going to worry to much about it. If the slight nudge Louis gives to Gigi's shoulder is anything to go by, then he thinks it's mainly just playful banter between the two of them. Screw Harry's own mind for being an anxious worrywart. 

"You say that like you aren't sexing my best friend all the time," Louis grumbles under his breath, sitting on the vanity chair with a frown. Gigi rolls her eyes and uses the comb in her hand to swat at Louis' head before she starts brushing through his fringe. Louis catches Harry's eyes in the mirror and gives him a wink before he's glancing up to watch Gigi style him over. "Make me look good, Luigi."

Gigi grimaces. "Do not call me that." Gigi uses the comb and aggressively brushes through a tangled strand on Louis' hair, smirking when Louis jerks at the pain. Harry laughs when Gigi does it again, and Louis has to glance over at Harry with a frown because his boyfriend should not be laughing at his own pain. 

"What are you laughing at, Curls?" Louis questions with a pout. 

Harry presses his lips together, holding his laugh in and shaking his head, refusing to answer the question. 

"He's laughing because we all know Gigi can beat your ass," Zayn gives his input, joining Harry on the couch and turning to him for approval, smiling when Harry gives a subtle nod. 

Louis rolls his eyes. "That's great. I'm pretty sure you suck hers."

"Louis," Gigi chastises loudly, hitting Louis rather hard on the shoulder. "You are annoying and disgusting. Can't you learn to be quiet?"

Louis snorts. "It took you this long to realize I'm annoying? Come on, Luigi, you should know better by now." Gigi rolls her eyes and goes back to fixing Louis' hair up. She finishes combing through his strands before she starts putting product in it, making it shinier and smooth. Harry watches on with a smile, and Zayn pulls out his phone to occupy himself with a game. In the midst of the newfound silence, Louis looks through the reflection of the mirror again to glance over at Zayn. "So, Zayn, you never actually denied that you suck her ass."

"You're fucking hopeless," Gigi groans as she finishes up ruffling Louis hair, now using a little bit of gel to pull Louis' hair out of his face. 

"Louis, _I am_ about to kick your ass now," Harry manages to get out, laughing when he catches Louis' appalled expression looking back at him in the mirror. He's so dramatic, and Harry's so in love. 

"How dare you, Curly," Louis huffs, pressing a hand to his heart like Harry's words hurt him. "I'd rather you just squeeze it than kick it."

Harry rolls his eyes and slumps back against the cushion, crossing his arms over his chest and shaking his head when Louis winks. Gigi, on the other hand, swats at Louis' shoulder again, causing Harry to giggle a little bit, but when Zayn mutters a quiet "been there done that," Harry is jerking his head directly in Zayn's direction, instinctively slapping his belly. 

"What?" Harry nearly screeches, eyes wide as he looks over at Louis through the mirror, seeing that his is now cackling with Gigi standing off to the side looking relatively annoyed, makeup brush in hand. 

"It was one time," Zayn reasons with, frowning slightly. 

"Please, Zayn," Louis scoffs, finally calming down so Gigi can put a light coat of skin makeup on Louis' face. "We all know I have an ass that can make _even you_ look my way."

Zayn rolls his eyes and goes back to his phone, childishly grumbling underneath his breath as he pulls a game up. 

"It's my fault, honestly," Gigi admits a second later once she realizes Zayn is pouting. She laughs as she sets the makeup brush off to the side, turning to look at Harry with a smile. "I didn't know Louis and Zayn had known each other at the time, and I proudly made the comment that I wanted Louis' ass so Zayn told me to go over there and just touch it."

Harry snorts, glancing at Zayn who is still trying to bury himself in his phone. "Really?" Harry giggles as Zayn nods slowly.

"Yeah, so he kept trying to dare me to just go touch Louis' ass. I hadn't even met Louis yet, I barely knew Zayn, and I didn't know that I would be Louis' personal stylist at the time," Gigi continues to explain. "So I did think about it. I wasn't sure why Zayn even wanted me to do it, and I literally had no idea those two fuckers were even friends to begin with - "

"Hey," Louis interrupts, playfully reaching behind him to pinch Gigi's side. "No cussing around, Harry."

Harry rolls his eyes. "Shut up, Lewis." Louis sticks his tongue out at Harry, and Harry retaliates by blowing him a kiss. It's oddly cute. 

"Anyway," Gigi continues with an eye roll, bumping her hip into Louis' shoulder to get him to remain quiet. "Zayn kept trying to dare me and like - if you don't know Louis very well, then he is kind of intimidating - so I was scared. Plus, I just don't go around grabbing people's asses. Zayn ended up doing it for me anyways, without complaint. He walked right up to Louis, got a giant handful of ass, and started jiggling it in his hands."

Zayn nearly shot up from the couch. "I did not jiggle his ass."

Louis starts cracking up loudly, and Harry turns into a fit of giggles. 

"His ass was fucking shaking in your hands," Gigi responds with a loud laugh of her own, Zayn shaking his head and sitting back down because his embarrassment was over the top right now. 

“It was an ass massage,” Louis teases. “Care to give me another one?”

Zayn groans and grabs a throw pillow next to him. He chunks it over in Louis’ direction and pouts when it hits the floor before actually hitting Louis. Zayn huffs, defeated, and slouches back in the couch. 

"Anyway,” Gigi interrupts, smiling as she bends down to toss the pillow back to Zayn. “I was freaking out after Zayn did that. I honestly thought Louis was going to flip out, but Louis started laughing and tackled Zayn to the ground. I was so shocked.” 

“She was traumatized,” Zayn calls out. “But I did tell her to do it.” 

Harry giggles and watches as Gigi goes back to fixing Louis up. “So did you ever touch his ass then?” Harry questions her. 

“Oh, definitely,” Gigi laughs, shaking her head. “I touch his ass all the time now. I’m no longer scared.” 

Louis pouts. “However, when I try to touch hers I get slapped,” he mumbles under his breath, catching Zayn’s eye through the mirror and sticking his tongue out at him. Harry laughs. 

“Well that’s not fair,” Harry reasons with.

“Yeah, my ass is more precious than yours anyways,” Gigi adds with a smirk, patting some powder on Louis’ cheeks. 

Louis scrunches his nose up. “Not when Zayn’s dick goes up it.” 

Harry chokes on his breath as Gigi smacks Louis’ back rather harshly. “Are you serious?” she scolds, huffing. “You’re fucking disgusting.”

Louis shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head back a little so Gigi can resume fixin up his features. Harry giggles from the couch as he stands to walk over to the vanity to watch. He leans up against the counter and crosses his arms over his chest, eyeballing the small amount of concealer on Louis’ face and his soft fringe pushed out of his face. Harry sighs and glances up at Gigi, seeing her contemplating which clothes from the rack Louis should now wear. 

“At least you’re can hide his disgustingness with his good looks,” Harry mutters cheekily.

Louis reaches out to pinch Harry’s thigh. “Meanie.” 

Harry smirks and shakes his hips teasingly, biting his lip when Louis puckers his lips for a kiss. Harry rolls his eyes and steps closer to Louis, bending down so he can give Louis the kiss that he wants. Louis hums and presses in for more, arm winding around Harry’s waist in his attempt at pulling Harry on his lap, but Gigi interrupts them by clearing her throat. 

“Get dressed, Louis.” 

Louia groans, childishly, and lets Harry step away from him. Harry smiles as he leans up against the vanity so Louis can stand from his chair. He follows Gigi to the rack of clothes and helps her pick out his outfit to go on the show with. Louis settles for a jumper and some joggers, simple enough, and does some last minute touch ups before some back stage crew members are signaling for Louis to get ready to go on. There’s some band performing right now, and after the commercial break, it’s Louis turn to go out for his interview so Louis and Harry go hand in hand down the hallway until they’re standing off to the side waiting for Louis’ cue. 

“You nervous?” Harry wonders, facing Louis and pushing a stray piece of hair out of his face. He smiles when Louis smiles. 

“Not really,” Louis responds, eyeballing the sign that signifies the show is on commercial break. “It’s been awhile though. I think my last talk show was Alan Carr last-last September.” 

“It’s weird that you’re about to go on television.”

Louis hums, hands seeking out Harry’s hips. “How so?” 

“Well, I’ve never had a famous boyfriend. A big famous superstar boyfriend,” Harry giggles. 

Louis rolls his eyes and pulls Harry into a hug. “You’re a dork,” he mumbles into Harry’s ear, pressing a quick kiss there before he is pulling back. He sees that the commercial sign is now off, and the show is back on air. Louis sighs and notices the small television off to the side that the host is introducing Louis so he knows he’s about to go out. “Wish me luck,” Louis tells Harry. 

“Good luck, babe.” 

Harry leans forward to give Louis a kiss to his lips and watches him walk through the curtains when the host announces his arrive. Harry smiles and turns to the television on the side, giggling when he sees his boyfriend is now live on the air. So weird. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 244 likes**

**harrystyles** My super famous superstar boyfriend xxx  
#MyBoyfriendIsCoolerThanYours

 **LouisTomlinson:** ur a dork xx

**NiallHoran:** Wow I saw him on TV ! So wild. 

//

Louis walks out to the stage and waves at the crowd when he hears all the cheering. The bright spotlight above him is pointing straight down on him, and it’s slightly blinding knowing he’s the sole focus right now. Some girls in the audience begin going crazy when Louis starts blowing kisses their way, and Louis giggles as he turns towards the host to give her a hug in greeting. After they greet one another, Louis steps back to take a seat in his chair, turning his head slightly to the side and seeing there are a few videos of him playing footie up on the back screen. Louis smiles and turns back to the host, watching as she takes a seat as well with her interview cards gripped firmly in her hands. 

“Welcome back to _Walter’s World,_ I am Erin Walters, and this evening we have the wonderful Louis Tomlinson here with us.”

Louis smiles. “Hello.” 

Louis’ never had an interview with Erin Walters before, but he’s seen great reviews about the guests who've come on this show. It's been awhile since Louis’ been on air with any talk shows, so Zayn wanted to make sure that Louis' next interview on TV is with a host that doesn’t try to stir or cause any drama. Louis’ been out of the public eye as much as one can be, and his media coverage hasn't been anything other than his football promotions. He’s been nominated for some awards and close to breaking and setting new records for Chelsea so an interview is definitely due besides all the press conferences he’s been a part of. Plus, Zayn isn’t sure how some host will stir the conversations, and most of the time, the hosts like to bring up all the crazy shit Louis has done in the past and try to crack down his love life, which is something Zayn wants to avoid. At least Erin Walter is someone who genuinely focuses on her guest’s careers. 

“So, Louis. The new season for Chelsea has been great. How does it feel being announced as the Captain? Long time coming, yeah?” 

Louis blushes when the crowd starts cheering some more and when pictures of him with the captains band show up on the screen behind him. Louis briefly glances and then looks at Erin with a smile. 

“It’s been great. I have a great team to be a captain of, and they’ve all been fantastic in helping Chelsea have a memorable season. I feel like all the hard work I’ve done for years has finally paid off, and I’m so thankful the Coach trusted me with his team like this.” 

This is definitely the happier side of an interview that Louis has ever done, one where he doesn’t act like a complete dick. The last interview with Alan Carr left Louis with bad press, and everyone nagged on how much Louis talked about himself so it's like a breath of fresh air seeing him be more friendly on screen. It's such a stark contrast from his last interview, and it does make Louis seem like a better person rather than the asshole he used to make himself out to be. 

”That’s amazing, and I’m so happy for you,” Erin says earnestly. “Did you have a bunch of friends and family there to celebrate with you? Any girlfriends ... ?” 

There’s the attempt at diving into Louis’ love life, but it isn’t as aggressive as Louis has seen. If anything, it just seems like Erin is curious and trying to play the field carefully incase it’s something Louis wants to talk about. The ball is in Louis’ court, and that’s something Louis appreciates. He knows the relationship talk is inevitable with any talk show host. 

"Oh, yeah, yeah. My mum was actually there to watch. She was right by the sidelines so it was great to see her reaction when the coach announced it. She’s been pretty supportive of my career, and football was always a big deal in my family so I was happy that she was there.”

Louis is just about to continue the conversation about Harry and Anne being there as well, finally admitting to the world on television that he and Harry are together, but Erin beats him to it. 

“I saw that Eleanor Calder made it to the game as well,” she admits with a wink, and as if on cue, old pictures of Louis and Eleanor replace the captain pictures on the screen. The girls in the crowd go wild. 

Well, that isn’t what Louis intended for. Louis quickly glances off to the side to see if he can glance at Harry back stage, and he feels so relieved when he catches sight of his green eyes. Harry looks uncomfortable and upset as he looks at those photos on the screen before glancing at Louis, giving him a shoulder shrug because Harry wasn’t expecting that either. It’s not like either one of them really kept it a secret that they were together, but maybe the media hasn’t been following them as much as when Louis and Eleanor were a thing. 

Louis turns back to Erin and smiles as calmly as he can. “Yeah, me and Eleanor are really good friends. We’ve been friends for years so I’m happy she was able to watch. We have a supportive _friendship._ ”

Really, Louis isn’t sure how much more he can make it clear that they’re _just friends_. Even the pictures up on the screen aren’t anything more than two friends hanging out. Louis’ arm may be around Eleanor in a few, but there’s nothing romantic about it. 

"So, friends,” Erin settles with, a smile on her face when Louis’ nods, almost like she was expecting and planning this to happen, like she wanted Louis to confirm they are only friends. Louis hums to himself. “Now, what about this mystery boy we all see you with?” 

_Now_ , there are pictures of Louis and Harry showing up on the screen, a bunch of paparazzi pictures and some Instagram posts from both of them. Louis can see what Erin’s doing, and he instantly brightens up now being able to speak about his boy and clear any potential rumors that he and Eleanor were a thing. 

“Yeah, his name is Harry,” Louis gushes, biting his lip and looking at the photos, laughing when the one he posted of Harry that morning pops up. The crowd starts cooing. “He’s my boyfriend.” 

Louis looks off to the stage again and sees Harry standing there, now looking much happier since Louis admitted their relationship on television. Louis winks at him and turns back to Erin. 

“How long have you guys been together?” Erin questions, genuinely looking happy about asking. 

“Harry’s the best. We started dating back in June, but I met him the September beforehand.” 

“Ooh,” Erin awes, winking. “One year is coming up then?” 

Louis bites his lip when the crowd starts clapping. Louis rolls his eyes and goes to look at Harry again, seeing his wide, dimply smile on his face and his fingers mindlessly twirling the Lily necklace around his neck. Louis smiles and looks back at Erin. “Yeah, it is coming up. He’s actually here. He’s standing backstage watching.” Louis subtly points to the side where Harry is currently standing, and when Erins eyes trail over there, she brightens up even more. Harry flushes in embarrassment right away, and if it wasn’t for the fact that Erin and the entire audience are now looking at him, he would probably be throwing mental daggers right at the side of Louis’ face. Whatever, he's in love with that stupid boy on screen anyways. 

“Hey, babe,” Louis greets him cheekily. He angles his body in the chair he’s sitting on and looks at Harry, waving and laughing when Harry begins shaking his head. At least the camera doesn’t trail over to him, just everyone’s eyes inside the building. “He’s going to kill me later,” Louis teases once he’s back in his seat. 

Erin laughs as well. “Oh, you two are precious. So how’s it being in a relationship with him while also being in the spotlight? I know it can’t be too easy to have privacy when the football world wants to know what’s going on in your life.” 

“Well, it definitely is a challenge,” Louis says with a shrug, slouching some. “We’ve gotten bombarded a couple times, and it’s not the best thing to have happen. We like to have our privacy and not worry about if people are watching or taking pictures of us - sometimes asking _very invasive_ questions, but we try our best to ignore everything. We’re happy together, and people are just going to have to accept that eventually.” 

Erin nods her head like she understands where Louis is coming from. “You do look very happy,” she notes. “You look very in love - “ Louis tenses a little and Harry nearly chokes - “And I’m glad he’s able to be here today. Does he go to a lot of your games?”

Louis doesn’t seem to make too much of a reaction from the love comment, just brushes past it and opts to answer the question instead. Harry doesn’t know why, but there was a small ounce of hope inside of him that Louis would just admit to the world he’s in love with Harry, but it doesn’t happen, and Harry _is not_ disappointed. Whatever. 

“Oh, yeah. He comes to a lot of the games, and he travels to some of them as well,” Louis responds happily. “We actually met because he got an internship to take pictures for Chelsea, and he still takes pictures every now and then, but yeah, he comes to a lot of my games. My absolute number one fan.” 

More pictures show up on the screen, this time showing pictures of Harry at Stamford Bridge or any other Chelsea game with Louis’ jersey on his back. Louis glances at them and smiles. 

“That’s great, Louis. Maybe one day we can sneak him out here.” 

Harry eyes widen when Louis starts laughing. “Good luck with that,” Louis cackles.

”Now, on to football,” Erin announces, moving on to the next topic. 

Erin ends up talking about Louis’ football success for the remainder of the interview. She talks about some of Louis’ highlights, even showing them up on the screen. They talk a little bit about Louis being the captain and the success that Chelsea has been seeing since the season started. She mentions the awards Louis has won already and some of the awards he is nominated for. The recent award Louis is rumored to win is the _PFA Player’s Player of the Year_ award that will be announced in a few months. Louis is right near gushing as she continues to praise and announce all of Louis’ successes in football until Erin is running out of time and has to cut for a commercial break. 

//

The second Louis and Harry make it into the safety of their flat, Harry pushes Louis childishly. “Did you really have to point me out like that?” he whines, pouting when Louis starts laughing. Harry rolls his eyes and takes off towards the kitchen, Louis following behind as Harry pulls out some leftovers for them to eat. 

Louis takes a seat at the bar top and smiles. “You know I love showing you off.”

Harry almost slams the microwave door on his hand when he hears that Louis’ loves him - or loves showing him off - either way, it’s very close to Louis admitting that he loves Harry, and Harry’s heart is just going crazy inside of his chest. When Harry makes sure his hand is no longer in danger of the microwave door, he shuts it and heats the food up. Harry tries not to think too much of the comment by focusing on getting their leftovers properly on a plate, but of course, Harry’s a mental head case so it’s all he can think about. Harry ends up tripping over his feet as he attempts at handing Louis his food, brushing it off with a giggle before joining him at the bar top. 

“We’re domestic then, aren’t we?” Harry teases once he’s relatively recovered. 

“It’s hard not to be when all you do is cook for me, love.” 

_Love._ Fuck, Harry could have a heart attack right about now. It’s honestly not the first time Louis has called him that. There’s been plenty of slip ups, and each time, Harry feels like his heart is just about ready to beat out of his chest because he’s just waiting for that _one time_ where Louis turns that love pet name into an _I love you._

Harry clears his throat. “I cook because if I don’t we would starve.” 

Louis pouts, has some cheese on his chin, and Harry reaches over to wipe it off, smiling when Louis tries to nip at his finger. 

“Thanks, baby .... and don’t you dare jab at my cooking skills.” 

“I’m not jabbing at it,” Harry laughs, shaking his head. “I just have yet to actually see you use your kitchen other than to make a bowl of cereal.” 

“Why do I need to make food when I can have a taste of yours?” 

Harry rolls his eyes. “I think you’ve tasted plenty from me.”

Harry doesn’t even realize what’s he said or what he’s insinuating until Louis let’s out a loud cackle, one that echoes in the flat and causes crinkles to form by Louis’ eyes. Harry turns to look at Louis, tilting his head in confusion at what Louis could possibly be laughing at. 

“And you taste delicious,” Louis finally responds. 

Harry groans and smack Louis’ chest. “Seriously,” he ends up laughing out, pouting when Louis draws Harry’s body into his chest. “I should’ve know that’s where it was going.” Harry rolls his eyes and kisses Louis’ nose, curving his body into Louis’ hands that are resting on his back. “You taste good too. Just so you know,” Harry replies cheekily, now smirking. 

“My oh my,” Louis tsks, hands sneaking to Harry’s ass, biting his lip when Harry’s blushes. “You’re getting naughty yourself, huh? Not so innocent anymore.”

Harry winks and wiggles his ass, leaning forward to kiss the shocked expression off Louis’ face before he completely steps away from Louis’ hold. “What can I say, you’re deflowering me.” 

Louis grimaces almost immediately. “Baby, don’t say that.”

”It’s an expression,” Harry pouts. 

Louis rolls his eyes and stands from his chair. He picks up the mess from their leftovers and takes it to the sink. He leaves the dishes there and makes a mental note to do them in morning so he can walk back over to Harry. Louis reaches for Harry’s hand so they can head towards the bedroom together, but instead, Harry ends up plastering himself to Louis’ back and hanging off his body. Louis huffs, but he lets it happen. Harry’s arms wrap around Louis’ neck and his hands rest on Louis’ chest so Louis brings his hands up to hold on to Harry’s wrist while he walks the both of them to their bedroom. It’s officially theirs now that they are roomates, and Louis starts smiling like a fool at the thought. When they get inside the bedroom, Louis walks to the bed and turns around, falling backwards on the bed and squishing Harry in the mattress with the weight of his body. 

Harry groans at impact. “This isn’t how I imagined you being on top of me.” 

Louis chokes on the loud laugh that belts out of him, Harry seeking it as perfect opportunity to wedge his hand in between their bodies to pinch Louis’ ass. Louis jolts. 

“You’re definitely naughty, Mr. Styles,” Louis teases, finally rolling his body off of Harry and laying on his side next to the boy. 

“No, I’m exhausted from watching my super star of a boyfriend be on the telly _for hours_.” Louis rolls his eyes and gets off the bed. He walks over to his drawer and pulls out one of his sweats so he can wear to bed. He switches his jeans for those and tosses his shirt somewhere off to the side. “Now you’re just showing off,” Harry says next, sitting on the edge of the mattress having blatantly been watching Louis change. 

Louis smiles some more and walks in between Harry’s legs, reaching to cup the sides of his face and angling it up. “You’re beautiful, you know that?” Louis ends up saying, leaning close to rub their noses together. “So fucking beautiful,” he repeats, this time mumbling the words against Harry's lips. 

It’s moments like this, being in each other’s arms, where Harry feels the most loved. It’s just him and Louis, and it’s just him and all the smiles that Louis brings out of him. With Louis’ arms wrapped securely around his waist and their lips pressing in for more kisses, Harry feels like the luckiest person in the world, like Louis is what he’s been searching for his whole life, like every fiber inside his body just wants and craves for Louis. It’s almost an overwhelming feeling rushing through Harry’s bones, but he embraces it. Harry’s nose is addicted to Louis’ scent, and his lips always chase for Louis’ kisses. His hands are always reaching out for Louis’ body, and his heart is always beating in sync with Louis. It’s always Louis, Louis, Louis, and for once in Harry’s life, he feels like maybe he’s meant to be with Louis, like maybe they were destined to be together. 

And maybe, _just maybe,_ this is what true love feels like. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 239 likes**

****H** arryStyles: **Off guard (; 

**LouisTomlinson:** like what u did with my hair ;)

**NiallHoran:** Why is Louis' shirt off in the first place HAROLD?


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **It gets preeeeetty steamy (;**

So, Harry’s day has been ... interesting, to say the least. 

It starts when Harry goes to the photography institution to make it to his morning class. As always, he runs into Jake whenever he parks the Range Rover, and he can’t find a way to avoid talking to him. So the two of them chat, or, Jake chats and Harry idly listens on until Harry finds his escape into his class. He’s now taking a course that teaches him how to take quick pictures - action shots. Harry has so many already with his photos with Chelsea, so he felt like he’s on the advanced side of this course with all the action pictures he’s taken, and when he’s shown his professor all of them, he nearly gushes when the professor points out his fantastic skill in front of the whole class. That’s why when the professor pulls Harry off to the side after class to invite him to showcase his pictures at the next art exhibition, Harry nearly faints. It’s the greatest news Harry’s ever heard, and it’s the whole point of him taking these classes in the first place. Harry _wants_ to showcase his pictures. Harry _wants_ to prove just how good his camera skills are, and Harry _wants_ someone to hire him for it. Harry feels over the moon after the invite, and all he can think about doing is celebrating. Harry is just about ready to run out the building and announce it to the world that he’s finally gotten the offer he’s been working hard to get when suddenly, he spots Jake in the parking lot ... again. Harry isn’t sure what comes over him, but he rushes over to Jake and practically jumps into his arms, laughing, crying, cheering, just _celebrating_ because he’s so fucking happy, and Jake is the first person he can actually express these emotions to. 

The celebration doesn’t last long though. Harry and Jake separate when Harry’s phone starts buzzing into his pocket, and it’s like reality sets in on Harry, and he’s _very_ much aware how someone, who’s not his boyfriend, has arms around his waist. Harry coughs and awkwardly pulls back, laughing nervously as he distracts himself by grabbing for his phone. 

It’s his boyfriend. 

Harry all but gushes as he pulls up his message from Louis, now completely disregarding Jake standing in front of him. And really, nothing else matters much when he sees what Louis sent him. It just seems like Harry’s great day keeps on getting greater when he reads that _Louis won_. Louis won the fucking PFA Player of the Year Award, and the first person Louis wanted to tell is Harry, and well, the first person Harry decided to tell his good news to was Jake. Which, that’s unfortunate, but it’s not enough to deter his mood. Harry is just so overjoyed with happiness, and when he sees that there’s an Athletic Association awards show Louis wants to attend with him, Harry is about ready to burst in tears. Plus, Louis’ been winning player awards left and right. He just got the UEFA Club Footballer of the year and UEFA Club Forward of the year and Premiere League Player of the year. Long forgotten is Harry’s celebration with Jake and his creepy crush on him. Now, it’s all about Harry’s desire to get home to Louis for the two of them to celebrate _together._ So, that’s exactly what Harry does. 

Harry breaks nearly every traffic law just so he can burst through the front door of the flat with a wide grin on his face. Louis is waiting patiently on the bar top, a grin of his own set on his face, and when the two of them finally look at each other, it’s like a tidal way of emotions take over them. Harry hugging and kissing Louis for how amazing of a football player he is. Harry’s throwing congrats every chance he gets to speak, and when he finally manages to get all his praises out, it’s his turn to inform Louis of the great news he received today as well. Then the roles reverse, and now it’s Louis who is hugging and kissing Harry, tossing out his own congrats to the boy, and there’s just so much going on that Harry really feels like he’s about to cry. He maybe does a little bit, but then Louis’ lips are back on his and Louis’ hands are gripping Harry’s waist, and all Harry can now think about is how he wants _more._ Harry wants so much more with Louis right now, and it seems like all the snogging, and the hand jobs, and the blowies, and the ínstense rubbing offs just don’t seem like it’s enough to push him over the edge right now. Harry wants to take it to the next level, as much as the next level can bring him before actual sex, but he wants it. Harry is so happy and in love and starting to get so horny that he’s beginning to _whine_ for something. 

Harry’s not really that embarrassed by it though because Louis is just as eager as he is. Louis’ hands find their way to Harry’s ass, and Louis’ lips trail their way to Harry’s neck to start littering his skin in love bites. Harry closes his eyes and moans, fingers digging into Louis’ shoulder and jerking their bodies closer together. 

“I want - “ Harry breathes out, biting his lip when he feels Louis’ hands curl into the meat of his ass. 

Louis finally pulls back from Harry’s neck. “I’m proud of you, baby. I hope you know that,” Louis ends up saying, settling for a smile, much softer now but hands still firmly gripping Harry’s ass. “You’ve been wanting this for a long time.” 

“I’m proud of you, too,” Harry responds with a smile, leaning forward to nip at Louis’ jawline. “You deserve everything.” Harry tucks his head back into Louis’ neck, pressing a gentle kiss to his skin. “You’ll come to my showing, right?” 

Louis grins even more. “Only if you come to the awards with me.” 

Harry's down right blushing when he leans into Louis' body, using the press of another kiss as his answer of saying yes. Of, course Harry would go to a freaking award show with Louis, and of course Louis will go to a freaking art exhibition for Harry. It's so cliche and cute, and Harry's heart is beating so fast in his chest right now that if he doesn't get some sort of _release,_ then he thinks he might just explode. So, Harry presses further into Louis, curling his fingers into the front of Louis' shirt and yanking their bodies until every inch of space in between is touching. Harry's lips seek out Louis', moaning when he feels Louis kiss back just as eagerly, his velvety tongue sneaking it's way into Harry's mouth and searching for more to taste. Harry loves it. He loves Louis, and his kisses are starting to turn more desperate and needy, something Louis really is not used to. They've been getting by on the basic stuff, and Harry has been getting more confident actually being somewhat naked in front of Louis. Harry's not as shy to touch and not as hesitant to voice what he wants, but they've also been doing the same things for months now, and Harry isn't entirely sure how he's supposed to say he wants more. Harry doesn't even know what more is at this point, but he's willing to explore that right now. He's just so fucking happy, and his heart is so full and warm at how great he and Louis are doing as individuals, and all he can think about is how he just wants to keep their kissing going. 

Harry feels Louis' hands tighten where it's gripping his waist. He can feel the heady breath of air that escapes Louis' nose, and he can feel the eager way Louis' lips are constantly seeking out his own. Louis' hands do end up moving back to his ass, and with the grip Harry has on Louis' shirt, he begins walking them backwards until his back is hitting up against the wall. That's when he puts in more effort. Harry whines as he sucks Louis' tongue into his mouth, chasing for another kiss each time their lips separate for a quick breath of air. He moves his arms around Louis' neck and buries his fingers into Louis' hair so he pull on it. Harry's right leg ends up hiking against Louis' hip, and when Louis instinctively moves one hand down to grab a hold of his thigh, Harry tilts his head back against the wall and just _moans._

"What's gotten in to you, baby?" Louis questions once their lips have separated for longer than a second. He pulls his head away from Harry's so he can look at the boys face, noticing that his bright, green eyes are currently blown and his bitten, red lips are parted in a gasp. 

Harry takes a second to slow his breathing down before he finally looks Louis in the eye. "I want ... " Harry pauses, still not sure how to ask. 

"What do you want?" Louis moves his hands from Harry's ass to his hips, squeezing to urge Harry to continue. 

"You," Harry whispers.

Louis swallows, nervously, and raises his eyebrows. "You want me? You want to have ... ?"

"No, not - not yet. Not _that_ ," Harry manages to say, struggling. "I just want something _more._ "

Louis nods his head like he's really contemplating Harry's request. The hand that is still holding on to Harry's thigh drops, and Louis goes back to having both hands on Harry's hips. He squeezes the pudge there just cause, and he begins nibbling on his bottom lip as if he's thinking about what more he should give to Harry. Harry raises his eyebrows and thrust his hips forward, pouting at Louis to make some sort of move. Louis blinks his eyes back at Harry and nods, like he understands, and is then leaning forward to press a much softer kiss to Harry's lips. 

"We can try something new, if you're up for it?"

Harry is nodding his head before Louis even finishes the question, and Louis' hands go back to Harry's ass almost instantly. Harry moans when he finally gets Louis' touch on him, and he has his back caving into Louis' body as Louis starts to guide them out the kitchen. Louis eagerly kisses Harry while they stumble their way through the flat. Harry's fingers curl into the back of Louis' head and refuses to pull away to look at where they're going, too lost in getting a taste of Louis on his tongue. Louis giggles when Harry ends up tripping over his boots, but he quickly grips the front of Harry's shirt and yanks him in the bedroom so they can make it on the bed without any more issues. Louis turns their body so he is walking Harry backwards towards the bed, waiting until Harry sits down on the edge before he pulls back just an inch, breathing into Harry's mouth and blinking his eyes open. Harry follows by opening his eyes as well, and when he notices how close Louis' face is to his own, he smiles, shyly, moving his fingers down to Louis' chest and gripping at the material of his shirt. 

"You good?" Louis questions, swallowing when Harry nods slowly. Louis smiles and leans in to press a quick kiss to Harry's lips. "Clothes off?"

"Just my pants," Harry whispers. 

Louis tries to hold back his frown, but he can feel his lips curving down. The two of them have been dating for awhile, and Harry is still very self conscious about his body. Louis doesn't understand it. Whenever his hands trace along the curve of Harry's waist or the thickness of his thighs, he thinks Harry is perfectly sculptured. The most Louis has ever seen is Harry bottoms off, but for some strange reason, Harry refuses to take his shirt off. Louis knows it's because he still has some pudge there, which, Harry _has_ been trying to work on by jogging and lifting weights, but Louis still thinks Harry's body is wonderful. Louis doesn't question it though. He knows things have to go at Harry's pace whenever it comes to sexual things so he simply nods his head and helps Harry to his feet so they can get his pants off his legs. After he gets bare from the waist down, Harry sits back down on the edge of the bed and looks up at Louis, swallowing when he realizes Louis had been blatantly staring at him. Harry flushes and starts to close his legs self consciously. 

"What about you?" Harry then wonders, hands digging underneath his thighs when Louis continues to stand there. 

Louis slightly jolts at Harry's voice and quickly glances up into his eyes, blinking. "Whatever you want from me."

Harry smiles and stands back to his feet. He really isn't sure what Louis has planned or what is going to happen, but Harry knows that he likes when Louis is shirtless and in boxers so he gets Louis down to just that. Then they are back to kissing, bodies curving in to one another and hands roaming over each other's bodies. Harry's arms go around Louis' neck, and his fingers dig into Louis' fringe when he feels Louis' tongue licking its way into his mouth. Louis has an arm wind around Harry's lower waist to help guide him on the bed, leaning him down on the mattress and following on top of him. Harry smiles and finally parts his legs, letting Louis get in between them as they continue kissing on the bed. Louis plants a hand on the mattress next to Harry's head while the other one runs down the line of Harry's waist, just touching him, enjoying the shape of Harry's body. Harry keeps one of his hands tangled in Louis' hair, but the other one starts running down Louis' chest, letting his fingers trace lightly over Louis' pec before it's dipping down to his stomach, running it along his hip bone before Harry is sneaking his hand into the waist line of Louis' boxers and finally wrapping a hand around Louis' cock. Louis moans into the next kiss when Harry starts sliding his hand up and down the length of Louis' cock, pushing his tongue further into Harry's mouth and idly jerking his hips with each thrust of Harry's hand. Louis lets this happen for a little bit longer until he knows he's fully hard and ready to get on with what he had planned. 

Louis eventually pulls his face away from Harry's and takes a moment to look down at him. Harry slowly opens his eyes and blinks when he sees that Louis is looking across his features, like he's soaking in every little detail of Harry's face. Harry smiles and moves a hand to caress the side of Louis' face, drawing Louis' eyes back to his own and urging Louis to continue with a small head nod. Louis sighs in response and quickly kisses Harry, slowly wiggling his body backwards and letting his lips kiss down Harry's body until he's finally pressing kisses to Harry's thigh. Harry sighs when he feels Louis' lips touching along the sensitive skin of his legs, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a slow breath when Louis starts to move closer and closer to his groin. Harry's fingers curl into Louis' head, and right when he thinks Louis is about to blow him, Louis is pulling his face back and glancing up at him. Harry frowns and tilts his head down, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner, wondering why Louis stopped. 

"You ready?" Louis questioned, his own breathing coming out deep and heavy. When Harry nods, Louis presses a final kiss to the inside of Harry's thigh until he's moving a little further down.

Harry still looks confused as he watches Louis, wondering why he is going so far down his body. He can't really see anything other than the top of Louis' head, and right when he's about to question what the hold up is, he feels finger's curling into the meat of his ass. Harry's eyes widen in surprise at the touch, and then he's parting his mouth in a breathy gasp when lips start pressing along his crack. Harry has the dire need to start closing his legs when he feels Louis teasing him around that area, and he really isn't too sure what is about to happen, but then Louis' tongue comes out and licks across his rim, and that's when Harry's clamps his thighs around Louis' head with an abrupt moan coming out. Louis does it again, and again, and Harry's back is nearly arching off the mattress and his fingers are clutching so tightly into the sheets that he feels like he's about to combust. 

"Shit, Louis," Harry whines, biting down on his bottom lip and trying to open his legs, but with each kitten lick Louis gives to his rim, the sensitive feeling shoots down his spine and tells him to tense his thigh muscles. 

Louis hums when he feels Harry's legs around his head, and he starts to experimentally prod his tongue just barely inside Harry's ass to see how he reacts to it. He hears Harry moaning loudly and a hand flying out to the top of his head. If Louis isn't so preoccupied with licking Harry out, he would be smirking, but since Harry is pushing his head further into Harry's ass, then Louis knows he needs to give more. Louis starts pushing his tongue further into Harry, now diving his tongue deeper in Harry's ass to really get a taste of him. Harry screeches when he feels his rim getting tongued fucked by Louis, not knowing at all how he's supposed to control any of the feelings that are overwhelming his body, but he's about near to ripping the sheets off the bed, and he's pretty close to suffocating Louis in his ass, and when he feels Louis starting to thrust his tongue in and out in a rapid pace, Harry is caving his back and spilling all over the sheets, letting out a weak whine when he feels Louis' fingers gripping on to his skin tightly. Harry is breathing heavily as he tries to cool down, feeling Louis loosen his hold and his lips beginning trail up Harry's body. 

Harry takes a second to calm himself, looking at the ceiling until his view is getting intruded with Louis' face. Louis smiles before he leans in and kisses Harry's lips, still intense and wet, licking his way into Harry's mouth and moving his hands back on to Harry's body. Harry is still coming down from his orgasm, but he easily succumbs to the kiss and gets his fingers back into Louis' hair. Their bodies become flushed when Louis lays completely on top of Harry, feeling Harry's thighs coming up to wrap around his hips so their chest and groins are rubbing up against one another. Harry pulls Louis closer to his body, if it's even possible, and eagerly sucks Louis' tongue back into his mouth. Harry isn't really thinking as he continues to kiss Louis. He feels their bodies starting to roll in to each others, lazily humping as their lips crave for more, and he's sort of reminded that his own boxers are pulled off, and Louis' are far enough down his legs for his cock to be exposed.

"Louis," Harry half heartedly whines, not entirely sure if its a weak plea for Louis to continue or stop. 

Harry doesn't expect anything to go further than this kiss considering he just came. He knows Louis is still hard, and he can feel it in the way Louis' cock keeps rubbing up against his thigh. Harry plans on doing something about it, but he gets too lost in pulling Louis' hair and tangling his tongue with Louis' to actually do anything, and he starts developing this feeling where he's gettin unsure with where this kiss is leading to. Louis still seems like he wants more, and Harry doesn't know how much more he's willing to give. He feels Louis grinding his hips down and making his hard cock somehow bump against his ass, and the second he feels the head of Louis' cock simply nudge along his rim, Harry blanches. Suddenly, the room is feeling hot, and Harry feels like he's crawling in his skin. THere's not enough space, but then again, it feels like everything is miles away. Harry's head begins to spin, and his fingers are burning, and when he opens his eyes, he immediately stops. 

"Louis, Louis," Harry pleads, moving his hands to Louis' chest. "Stop. Stop. Stop Please stop. Get off. Get off."

Louis pulls his face back slightly and raises his eyebrows, frowning as he looks down at Harry. "What's going on, baby?" Louis ends up leaning down and pressing kisses along Harry's neck to give him the freedom to speak, however, the pet name doesn't sit right with Harry, and he's very much aware that Louis' hard cock is right there with his open ass, and he is still kissing Harry, and his hands are still gripping his waist, and Harry is starting to not breathe properly. 

"Get off of me," Harry begs again, this time more powerful than before. Louis still seems to not get the message, or he's just still confused, or he's still too into the lust and desire that he's not properly comprehending that he apparently needs to do something, but the longer he remains frozen, the more uneasy Harry gets. Harry whines and starts pushing at Louis' chest, almost to the point where he's hitting Louis to get his near naked body off his own. 

"Harry, chill out," Louis snaps, harshly being pushed backwards on the bed. "What the hell?"

"You wouldn't stop," Harry reasons with. He sits up on the mattress and quickly reaches for the closest item he can find. It happens to be his boxers, and he quickly pulls those over his legs. 

"Stop what?" 

Harry shakes his head, completely baffled. "Are you serious?" Harry scoffs when Louis still looks clueless about everything, like he did absolutely no wrong. "Louis, you kept kissing me and ... _touching_ me." 

"Harry," Louis sighs, now getting frustrated himself. He sits up on the mattress and grabs a pillow to place over his lap. "This is stuff we've done before. I don't understand why you're getting pissy with me."

"Well, I don't understand why you kept going after I came."

Louis scrunches his face. "Maybe it's because I'm horny, too and I didn't get the fucking pleasure of coming myself so excuse me."

"Oh, you're horny?" Harry laughs bitterly, now scrambling off the bed to find his pants to pull on. "That's rich, Louis." Harry shakes his head and gets all his clothes on, even reaching for a random jacket to cover more of his body. "It's good to know that you wanted to keep going because you're _horny._ Let's not stop and consider that maybe you were starting to move a little too fast and too quick for me, and how you're being too much of an ass to actually admit that because you're _horny._ "

"You're the one who wanted to do something, Harry?" Louis nearly yells, standing up from the bed as well and pulling his boxers back up. "Stop fucking putting the blame on me. I didn't realize you're the only one who gets to have a fucking orgasm while I get left here with nothing. That's really fucking _rich,_ Harry."

Harry rolls his eyes and walks over to the dresser, grabbing random things he can find to shove in a bag. "Yeah, I wanted to do something. That didn't mean anal sex, which is what you were leading it to. For gods sake Louis, you were about to fucking shove your cock in my ass, and I'm not ready for that." 

Harry's currently emotional and slightly irrational that he doesn't even know what he's doing right now. Louis is still shirtless with his boxers on, standing at the foot of his bed staring widely back at Harry, and all Harry has the fucking nerve to do is pack a bag that has random shit inside of it. He has pens and pencils, even grabbed a tissue box because his mind is so all over the place that he can't properly think about anything. 

" _Fuck_ , are you _ever_ going to be ready?" Louis ends up mumbling under his breath, rolling his eyes as he sits back down on the edge of the mattress, and he really wasn't intending on Harry to hear that, but of course, Harry did. 

Harry stops what he's doing and turns around to face Louis, nearly in tears. "Fuck you, Louis," he cries out, Louis' blues eyes flashing up to his own in slight shock. "You know what, if you can't respect that I got overwhelmed with what was happening, then maybe you don't respect me at all. If you being horny consumes you this much, then I want no part in it." Harry huffs and grabs his bag, walking right towards the door. "If you can't handle not having sex for just a little bit longer, then maybe you need to find someone else who can give it to you. Better yet, why not watch your stupid porn or call Eleanor - maybe check Flynn or Hanna and see if they would like to have a round with you. That way you don't have to let me, your boyfriend, bother you by not satisfying your horny needs."

Harry slams the door on his way out of Louis' bedroom, and he all but runs through the flat to grab his keys - which, fuck, they're actually Louis' keys. He rushes down to the garage and quickly gets in the car to drive as far away as possible as he can from Louis' place so of course that means he's going to Nialls. It's not his best hiding place. He knows if Louis were to ever look for him, there would be three places he could be at - Hyde Park, Anne's house, or Niall's house. Harry knows it was inevitable before Louis comes search for him, _if_ he even searches for him. For all Harry knows, Louis is already ringing up a new sex partner, and Harry is pretty much in tears as he bustles through Niall's front door. Niall turns his head when Harry makes a loud entrance, and it's just him and Jake lounging in the living room when they notice Harry. There's a footie game on the telly, and Harry nearly chokes because it reminds him of his stupid horny boyfriend. Niall notices the tears almost immediately, and he pats the spot next to him on the couch to get Harry to come join. Harry blinks and feels the first tear roll down his cheek. He drags his body over to Niall and slumps his body on the cushions, sighing loudly as Niall quickly motions for Jake to turn the telly off. 

"What's the matter?" Niall questions right away. Jake has a frown on his face as he scoots to the edge of the seat, looking equally as interested. 

Harry closes his eyes and breathes slowly. "Louis."

"Louis?" Jake squawks, looking confused. "What happened? You were excited to celebrate with him."

Niall grunts, wrapping an arm around Harry's neck. "Yeah, explain, mate."

"Louis' been acting a little different," Harry responds with a sniffle, looking down at his lap. 

"What do you mean."

"It's just - " Harry pauses to huff. "He's like - He's been getting a little bit more aggressive when we kiss, and like, he gets horny much easier now - and I - well - he's just - it's sex, Niall. He wants it, and he pretty much got mad at me because I stopped us."

Jake raises his eyebrows at the response and goes back to leaning against the cushion of the couch, now looking slightly uncomfortable and refraining from saying anything about the conversation. Niall, on the other hand, hums thoughtfully. "Well, why did you stop it?"

Harry deflates a little. "I still keep thinking about Louis' past relationships - how he was _only_ with them for sex and never had feelings for them. It sits there in the back of my head, and it always comes up when we get a little _intense_ with kissing. Niall - " Harry nearly cries - "Louis was with Eleanor for three years, and nothing happened. What if we get to that point, and he feels nothing for me? I mean, everyone tells me Louis feels a certain way about me, but why hasn't Louis said anything himself? What if it is _just sex_ for him? I mean, he got snappy with me because he was horny and I didn't let him ... come ... but it was getting too much for me, and it was like he didn't respect that at all. He knows everything that's happened. I told him about Tanner. I told him I needed time, but today he - he asked me if I was _ever_ going to be ready, Niall. I heard him, which means, this wasn't the first time he's had these thoughts."

"Harry - "

"It's just frustrating," Harry continues, barely breathing and not letting Niall get a word in. "I like him _so much_ , Niall. I fucking moved in with him, and well, maybe that's why he's expecting sex, but like - I don't know. I just like him a lot, and it scares me how much I _feel_ for him. I mean ... Niall, I can't breathe when I'm around him. He's all I think about, and whenever I'm not with him, I want to be. I feel it so deep in my bones, and it brings out this insecure side of me. I'm so inexperienced, and we're so out of each other's league, and I'm just - I ... It's - I'm in love with him." Harry ends up blurting the last part out accidentally, and when he realizes he said the three words that had always been lingering in the back of his head, his eyes widen in shock. "I'm completely in love with Louis Tomlinson," Harry repeats again, slowly, like he's trying to process everything. "I love him, and well, there's a part of me that doesn't think he'll ever feel the same for me."

It's silent for a moment as Harry processes everything he had just said. Even Niall is slightly taken back by the outburst. The conversation had started one way, and then it completely turned into a love declaration so it was quite unexpectedly to hear Harry admit his true feelings for Louis, especially considering it's the first time Harry had ever said it out loud. 

"Harry," Jake says in the midst of the silence, pressing a careful hand to Harry's thigh. "Louis would be a fool to not fall in love with you." 

Harry smiles appreciatively. 

"You're in love with him?" Niall ends up questioning, still not past that part and needing a double confirmation. "You're in love with him, and you want to have sex with him, but only if he loves you back. Is that right?"

Harry nods slowly, sighing. "I guess," he mumbles, frowning. "I know I want to do it with him, but until _I know_ , I just can't, but I also don't want to be with someone who gets irritable if he doesn't get his dick wanked."

Niall grunts. "Have you considered maybe talking to him about this?"

"Niall," Harry whines. "It's a lot harder than you think to just bring it up. Plus, you're supposed to be on my side."

"Right. Right. Sorry. Louis was an ass, you're right."

"What exactly happened before you got here?" Jake wonders, brows furrowed together, curiously. 

Niall hums. "Yeah, what were the two of you guys doing that made you want to stop?"

Now, Harry blushes a little, losing all that confidence of blurting everything out in favor of shying slightly away. "Well," he laughs under his breath, sighing as he picks at the seams of the cushion. "He rimmed me."

Jake nearly chokes on his spit, and Niall slightly grimaces. 

"So he _uh_ \- he did stuff with his mouth ... to yer bum hole?" Niall asks skeptically. 

Harry clears his throat. " ... Yeah." Harry looks away from Niall, gulping, feeling the room suddenly get really awkward. "It felt good - _great_ even ... but he kept going afterwards."

"Harry," Niall then sighs, scooting closer to Harry and now looking brighter, like he's come to a conclusion of his own. "I just want you to know something. I would be the first person to point out a flaw in Louis that would prove he shouldn't be with you only because I've read about his past, but just for the record, that boy would not have stuck his tongue inside your ass if he didn't have some sort of feelings for you. You don't just eat ass or eat pussy for the hell of it. It's intimate."

Jake agrees with a nod. "Especially being rimmed," he adds. "You don't put your mouth there unless you trust the person. At least, I couldn't. It's an ass, you know?"

"Yeah, I don't eat a girl out unless I _really_ like them."

Harry groans. "Niall, too much information," he grimaces, playfully pushing Niall's shoulder when Niall giggles. 

"I'm just saying," Niall eases. "I ate out a girl once, and I was in puppy love with her. Low-key, if I was with Ellie ... "

Harry ignores Niall's final comment and mainly focuses on the rest. He did have a point about Louis though, so did all the other people who had told Harry that Louis is in love with him. It's nice to hear those words be confirmed by others, it's kind of like they can actually see it with their own eyes that Louis _does_ have feelings, but now Harry is at the point where he needs to hear those actual words from the source himself. Harry's never been in love, and his last relationship was a joke. He doesn't know what's he's doing, and he's the most inexperienced as he can get. Harry's scared and in love, and before he actually confesses anything to Louis, he just needs to know that what between them is real and genuine. 

Harry ends up sighing, slouching completely back against the cushion and crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I'm so in love with him."

"He loves you, too, mate. He's got to," Niall reassures with a smile, glancing at Harry softly. "He stuck his tongue up your ass. That's love."

Harry grimaces at the word choice, but he's glad, to say the least, that another person is able to tell him that Louis loves him. It's a nice, comforting thought to have, but again, it's not Louis telling him this. 

Their conversation gets put on hold where there are three, shy knocks on the front door. Jake and Niall immediately turn to look at Harry as if they are anticipating what he'll do next. Harry sighs and stands from the couch, mainly glancing at Niall when he says, "I'll get it." Harry walks over to the front door and opens it to see Louis standing there looking like a complete mess. His hair is all over the place, like he has been running his fingers through the strands, and his shoes are untied and barely on his feet, almost as if he just threw his clothes on as quickly as he could. Plus, he's breathing heavy, like he's just gotten done running, and for some reason, all Harry can think about again is that Louis looks like this because he's in love, and if right now that's something Louis can't admit himself for his own personal reasons, then Harry's going to have to accept that. So against his better judgement, Harry steps forward and cups Louis' face, quickly pressing a long kiss to his lips and hoping that can be their way of proving their love for now. 

When Harry pulls back, Louis sighs. "I don't deserve that." Harry smiles and leans in for another one. "Or that," Louis adds again, now smiling a little bit. 

"Agreed," Niall calls out, evidently watching over the back of the couch. 

Harry rolls his eyes and gently pushes Louis out in the hallway, closing the door behind himself so they can have some sort of privacy. Once they're alone, Harry drops his hand form Louis' chest. "That's true, but ... " It's left in the air that Harry finishes it with an _I love you anyways._

"Look, I'm sorry," Louis finally says, a big breath pushing past his lips. "I know what I said was stupid, and I'm such a dick for making you feel like it was all about my needs. I just - I don't know what's been going on with me. My hormones and shit have been going a little crazy, and whenever I'm around you, it makes me go crazy on the inside. You know, I do l-like you a lot, Harry, and I don't want to ruin it because I get stupid when I'm horny. I'll work on that, but yeah, I'm so fucking sorry all of that happened. I do respect you, and I do respect that you need time. I would never hold that against you again, I swear."

Harry's heart tries not to react too much over Louis stuttering over the word _like_ , but he is kind of wondering if Louis intended on saying a different word instead. It's not the first time he's heard Louis fumbled over that word before. 

"I just ... I need to know something," Harry responds curiously, leaning against the wall. "Have you ever rimmed someone before?"

He only asks for his own personal confirmations. 

Louis' eyes widen at the blunt question and ends up blushing, shyly ducking his head down and looking at the ground with a small, self deprecating laugh. "Was I _that_ bad?"

"No, No," Harry reassures quickly, stepping forward to caress the side of Louis' face, not realizing he would get so insecure about it. "It was great. I like it. I just wanted to know. It seems kind of ... _intimate_."

"I've never done that to anyone. You're the first one I ever wanted to do it to." Louis sighs. "I even watched videos to learn so I wouldn't make a complete tit out of myself."

And ... _oh_ ... that could explain why Louis has a handful of videos on _MenHub_ that are solely on men getting rimmed by other men. Harry doesn't even want to think of the reasonings behind the other videos, but at least that makes him feel slightly better. 

"Let's go home," Harry ends up saying, a smile on his face as he reaches for Louis' hand. "I think we need a cuddle."

**//**

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**LouisTomlinson commented:** don't even get me started

**Louis Tomlinson commented:** u will too bby

**GigiHadid:** You're welcome. 

**//**

The Athletic Awards Association in London is finally happening, and Louis and Harry are getting ready for the event. The Awards Show is a televised event where all the big time athletes gather together for a big fancy dinner with drinks, and some important people go up on stage to announce which athletes win which awards. Louis' never been so he isn't entirely sure what to expect. 

Gigi has Harry and Louis in separate rooms while she styles the both of them. She somehow makes it work by going back and forth between the two boys and getting their outfits fitted. The two of them are going to show up together with complimentary outfits, and Gigi thought it would be fun if she kept them apart so they can have a big reveal of how they look with one another. It's whatever, and Anne and Jay are also over so they can join in on the fun. The two of them are currently sitting in the living room, a bottle of wine being passed between their glasses when Gigi finally steps out of one room. 

"I am finished," she announces with a clap. She looks slightly exhausted so when she sees the bottle of wine not occupied on the coffee table, she walks over to grab it. Gigi takes a seat on an empty spot on the couch and takes a gulp of the drink. 

As if on cue, Harry and Louis start to emerge from their separate room, meeting out in the middle of the open room so Jay and Anne can see how they look from their spots on the couch. Harry's normally curly hair is straightened just slightly so his hair could be styled around his face. He has a geometric, black and white under shirt that is paired with a black blazer and skinnies. Louis' hair is pushed back into his infamous quiff, allowing the perfect bone structure on his face be exposed. He's wearing a black undershirt, but he has a graphic design in the middle that correlates to the pattern of Harry's shirt, and that is paired with a black blazer and skinnies as well. In all honesty, Gigi killed it with their looks, and they're going to look like a proper couple when they show up to the awards together, hand in hand with complimentary outfits. 

Anne and Jay spend a few minutes getting pictures of both the boys, but when Louis gets a message that his limo driver is here, they have to head out. Louis takes Harry's hand as they take the elevator down to the lobby. There are a couple of fans near by that have stopped to take pictures of them, but overall, they remain out of scene. Once the two of them are alone and cuddled in the back of the limo, Harry turns his head towards Louis, smiling. 

"You nervous?" Harry wonders, mainly referring to the award he's up for tonight. 

Louis shakes his head, features softening when he looks at Harry. "No, I'm happy." He says the words directly into Harry's eyes and watches as those beautiful, green irises brighten up. "I just love you - you being here with me. It makes all of this feel more special."

Harry's heart absolutely does _not_ stop when he hears Louis stumble over his words, but it definitely does nearly jump out his chest. What the fuck?

"Me, too," Harry settles with responding, leaning over to press a kiss to Louis' cheek. 

This is going to be a great night.

**//**

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 **HarryStyles commented:** You're embarrassing. 

//

There is a man on stage who is talking about Louis, and Harry's leg keeps anxiously bouncing where he's sitting in his seat. He's staring up at the stage just waiting for the award to finally be announced, and for some reason, he's more nervous than Louis is, and he's not even here for an award. Harry's Louis' date, he's the one that supposed to be keeping Louis calm, but it seems like Louis is the one doing that for Harry. It's messed up and reversed, but Harry at least settles down enough when Louis places a hand on his thigh. That's when Louis gets announced with the PFA Player of the Year award, and Harry can finally breathe again. The whole venue is erupted in clapping, and the camera starts to pan in on Louis' face when he stands to his feet. Harry quickly follows and presses a small kiss to the side of Louis' face before he sits back down and watches his boyfriend make it up on stage. 

"Thank you for honoring me with this award. Truly, words cannot describe how thankful I am for being a part of such a great organization." Louis begins his acceptance speech that he prepared for, and Harry ends up getting lost at staring at his boyfriend. Louis looks good tonight, and he has an actual award in his hand right now because he's an amazing football player that deserves it. Harry is just so mesmerized right now that he nearly misses Louis' entire speech, and right when he thinks it's about to be over so he can reunite with his boyfriend, he suddenly hears his name coming from Louis' mouth, and that has Harry's ears perking up almost instantly. "And for Harry, my boyfriend, I just want to thank you for the support you have given me over the past year and making me a better man. You believed in me when at a time I, nor anyone else, did, and I'm so glad that you got to be here with me today." Louis pauses and winks at Harry when they finally make eye contact. "I love you ... all ... every single one of you. Thank you."

And when Louis gets back to the table with the award in his hand, Harry kisses him silly and tries not to think too much of Louis indirectly admitting that he loves him. 

"Congrats, hun," Harry says after he pulls his head back from the kiss, biting his lip when Louis looks back at him so softly, so ... in love?

"Thank you, baby." Louis leans in for another kiss, idly setting his award on the table so he can hold Harry's face. "You ready for the after party?"

Harry raises his eyebrows, hesitant. " _Eh,_ what? I don't party."

"Bullshit," Louis laughs, moving his hand down to Harry's thigh and now ignoring the rest of the ceremony. "I saw you at a pub once, and I saw you party on New Years."

Harry rolls his eyes. "First off, Niall wanted to see if my fake would work, but I didn't even order a drink. I was scared. Second off, _you_ got me drunk on New Years."

"Come on. We've never clubbed together," Louis nearly begs, now pouting. 

Harry groans. "Fine. Whatever. I'll club with you, but you better not judge me when I stand there all awkward."

"You're already awkward, dear," Louis teases, giggling when Harry slaps his chest. "Don't worry, though. Liam and Zayn are coming so it should be a good night."

Harry sighs, but since he's already agreed, he'll just have to see exactly how good this night can truly get. He's never been clubbing, and he's never truly partied with Louis like this, but considering it's Louis' big night, he figures he can indulge in a few hours of harmless fun. 

"Alright, let's get drunk tonight," Harry finally announces. 

//

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	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire chapter is all about Harry and Louis at the club. It's kind of a mess so yay, enjoy (; There's going to be drama, only because I love making you guys suffer through it, but don't worry, there will some good stuff coming afterwards.

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**HarryStyles commented:** You're such a sap

**LottieTommo commented:** Congrats ... You want an award for that or .....

//

The club, to which Louis drags Harry to, is called _Envy_ , and Harry is starting to wonder himself if he's actually supposed to be envying this place or not. It's completely packed with people, and there's a long line out side of people waiting to get in, but because Louis is Louis, he is able to bring Harry inside past all the people in line. It's kind of crazy, and there is paparazzi outside the club taking pictures of them entering as if they were expecting Louis and him to show up. Then once they're actually inside, there are colorful strobe lights every where, and there's a DJ emitting fog and confetti out on the dance floor. The club is two stories, but Louis is guiding them right over to a private section near the bar. There is a small sitting area that Liam and Zayn, and apparently Niall, are already waiting at, a couple buckets of beer and a few bottles of wine already on the table. Harry feels slightly breathless as the two of them walk over to meet their friends, but before they actually get there, Louis stops them so he can lean closer to Harry's ear. 

"You want a drink?" He questions, hand going down to the back of Harry's spine. "They have cocktails at the bar."

Harry nods his head, not entirely sure what he wants, but he trusts Louis enough to get him something good. Louis quickly ushers Harry through the crowd of people before he's dropping Harry off in their private sitting area. Harry feels thankful enough that he's now out of the swarm of people and in the safety of a chair. Zayn and Liam get up when Louis approaches, and three of them walk over to the bar while Harry settles next to Niall. 

"What are you doing here?" Harry wonders, watching Niall gulp the rest of his pint before he's setting it on the table in front. 

"Zayn invited me. Not you."

Harry rolls his eyes. "To be fair, I wasn't aware Louis intended on clubbing tonight."

"Well, it should be fun," Niall hums as he relaxes against the seat, lazily tossing his feet up on the table and resting his hands over his belly. "Since this is your first time clubbing, always remember this very important rule. Never set your drink down. There are bozos out there who will drug it."

Harry raises an eyebrow. "Are you speaking from experience?"

"Nah," Niall dismisses, waving his hand in the air. "I just wanted my club virgin to be aware of this."

Harry rolls his eyes and reaches over to slap at Niall's chest. Niall ends up falling over to the side of the couch in a fit of giggles as Louis, Liam, and Zayn come back with some more drinks. Zayn replaces Niall's empty glass with a new one, and Liam has a tray full of shots and limes. Harry might throw up just looking at that. Louis has two drinks of his own, one of them a pint and the other one a pink concoction in a skinny martini glass. Louis walks over to Harry and smiles as he takes a seat next to the boy, carefully handing him over his drink. 

"It's not pink lemonade," Louis teases, taking a sip of his beer and sighing when he enjoys the taste of it. "Do you like it?" Louis then asks, waiting for Harry to take a sip of his own drink. Harry nods after he drinks a little of it. 

"Fuck, this place is packed tonight," Zayn grumbles as he takes a seat on the couch, shaking his head as he takes a long swig of his drink. 

"That's why I got us shots," Liam smiles, already handing every one a small glass with a lime wedge on the side. "It's tequila. The best."

Niall hums thoughtfully after he downs the shot. "Did you get two rounds?"

Liam nods. "I didn't want to go back through that mess."

"Well," Harry then speaks up, passing the second round of shots to every one else and holding it high in the air for a cheers. "This one is for Louis - for being my bad ass, superstar boyfriend." Harry winks and downs the shot, giggling when all the other boys look at him slightly surprised, not expecting him, out of all of them, to be the one initiating a shot. "What?" Harry ends up questioning, smiling before he's occupying his lips with his martini glass. 

"Nothing, mate," Niall is the one who responds, patting Harry's back. "It's just pretty great seeing you try to drink."

Harry raises his eyebrow. "What do you mean _try_?"

"Well, it's just - you know, you don't really drink much."

Harry tries to look offended, and he sort of is, but Niall does have a point. The one time Harry actually went to a bar with Niall was when he was sixteen and trying out a fake ID, which, he didn't even use. All Harry ordered was sodas while Niall was getting beer so in reality, Harry isn't experienced in drinking. One of the few times he got drunk was at New Years, and he got overly dramatic and so emotional that he kind of swore he wouldn't drink again. Harry should have known it would be inevitable that Louis would want to go out with him, and now that they're actually in the position to drink and get drnuk, Harry figures he should give it a go. They are surrounded around their friends, and the place is playing some bangers. There's alcohol and dancing, and Harry know's once he's tipsy, he'll not be so awkward so he is planning to at least get a good buzz in so he won't be too shy to test out the dance floor. Harry does want to experience club grinding with Louis. 

"I'll have you know," Harry finally responds, scoffing as he turns his body towards Louis', pressing his hand to the back of Louis' head as he quickly glances at Niall. "I can handle my own." Harry turns back to Louis and drowns out the rest of his words by pressing his lips against Louis', yanking his body closer and arching his back when Louis' hands go to touch him. There is a chorus of groans all around them as Harry licks his way into Louis' mouth, and when he pulls back, he's smiling like a fool at the dopey look on Louis' face, evidently not expecting to be completely snogged in front of their friends like that. Except, Harry isn't finished. Instead of pulling away to finish drinking and socializing with their friends, Harry continues. He keeps Louis in his place with his hand on the back of Louis' head, and he uses his other hand to grab the next available shot. He places the glass on the edge of the table and leans in to lick a fat strip up the column of Louis' neck, feeling him visibly shiver at the feel of Harry's velvety tongue making contact with his skin. Then Harry is grabbing a salt shaker to pour some salt on his hand before he's sticking it on Louis' wet neck. Louis' adam's apple bobs as he watches Harry carefully, highly aware that their friends eyes are currently on them while Harry reaches to put a lime wedge in between Louis' lips. Then it's all happening so quickly, and Louis feels like his body is about to combust. 

Harry licks Louis' salty neck again, grabs the shot glass, downs the tequila, kisses the lime wedge right out of Louis' mouth, and Louis swears his cock is convulsing in his pants. 

"Well," Zayn coughs, clearing his throat. "That was _uh -_ "

"I need a drink," Liam mumbles under his breath. 

"I don't think I ever want to see you do that again," Niall grimaces, shaking his head as he downs the rest of his glass. "I already need a refill." Niall gets up to head to the bar with Liam and Zayn quickly following, leaving Harry and Louis be so the boys don't have to watch another show of whatever it was that Harry had started between them.

Once they're alone, Harry lets go of Louis and leans back against the cushion, bringing his martini glass with him. "Shall we get more shots?"

"Oh, boy," Louis laughs, shaking his head. "You're trying to kill me, hm?"

Harry shrugs his shoulder innocently, downing the rest of his cocktail in one big gulp before he's standing on his feet. He offers his hand to Louis and helps the boy stand on his feet, pressing a quick kiss to his lips and then dragging them out of the sitting area to head towards the bar. Louis orders them both a couple of rounds of shots to take before Harry is dragging them out to the dance floor. They see that Niall, Liam and Zayn are already back to their area with new drinks, and when Louis catches their eyes, all three of them raise their glasses up. Louis laughs and lets his body get weaved in between people until him and Harry are finally on the dance floor, bodies all around them and fog clouding the ground below them. Harry smiles and gets as close to Louis as he can, turning around so his back can rest up against Louis' chest while he slowly shakes his hips to the beat of the song. Louis groans and reaches out for his waist. 

"You _are_ trying to kill me, aren't you?"

Harry giggles and bites his lip, turning his head slightly so he can catch a glimpse of Louis' face. "I don't know what you're talking about," he responds innocently, backing up a little more until his ass is flushed against Louis' groin. Louis' hands tighten on Harry's body, and he tenses when Harry starts to purposely swirl his hips over his bulge. "I just want to dance. Don't you?"

Louis rolls his eyes and yanks Harry further into his body, biting his bottom lip on the moan he wants to release when Harry starts grinding against his body. Louis tests the waters and starts rolling his hips up into Harry, feeling Harry quicken his own pace as he tilts his head back on Louis' shoulder, mouth slightly parted as he breathes heavily into Louis' neck. Louis digs his fingers deeper into Harry's hips and starts rolling his hips to the beat, full on following Harry's movements every time he grinds back into him.

"Fuck, Harry."

Harry giggles when he hears Louis' breathy moan against his ear before he's turning around in Louis' arms, pressing their chest together and leaning in for another kiss. Harry bring his arms around Louis' neck and curls his fingers into Louis' hair. He can feel Louis' own hands sliding down the curve of his waist until they're settling right on his hips. Harry keeps his arms securely around Louis and pulls his face back so he can continue dancing again, keeping their bodies close and their faces even closer. Harry goes back to swiveling his hips, but now his groin is rubbing up against Louis', and they end up mindlessly humping on the dance floor while the people around them continue to circulate. Louis presses kisses to Harry's lips occasionally, sometimes moving to his neck and littering his skin there with potential love bites. The dance floor is crowded, and it's really hot, there's fog almost everywhere, and there is no inch of space between Harry or Louis. They are flushed together from the chest down, and Louis keeps moving his hands from Harry's hips to his back, back down to his hips before getting a handful of his ass. Harry moans when he feels Louis grip him there, getting slightly cocky and wiggling his bum in Louis' hold. 

The two spend some time on the dance floor before Harry is dragging them off to go get some more shots. They take two more, and Harry chases each one with a kiss to Louis' lips. They are just about ready to go back to their sitting area to maybe cool off and casually drink, but they see Niall, Liam and Zayn now getting up to go to the dance floor. So of course, Harry drags Louis back to it, now spending the time dancing with their friends rather than grinding their bodies against one another. Louis is already getting hard, and he can tell Harry is slightly affected as well just from the way his green eyes are blown and the front of his jeans are bulging out just a little. When Harry and Louis join the other lads, they sort of separate to enjoy their time with their friends. Niall and Harry end up dancing together, having a mini dance off in the middle of the floor while Louis and Liam tease Zayn about how bad he is at dancing. Then there is a waitress walking through the crowd with a tray of shots, and Louis is waving her over so the five of them can take another round. Harry giggles as he quickly downs his, easily seeking Louis out and immediately kissing Louis' lips when the burn of the tequila is strong in his mouth. They go back to dancing now, but this time, Louis and Harry are back in each other's space. Louis is crowded up against Harry's back as his hands go down to hold Harry's hips, guiding them to the beat of the song and idly rubbing off on one another. It really could be mistaken as harmless dancing with the way Harry is shaking his ass back into Louis' groin, but with the way Louis' cock is _really_ starting to take interest with all the excitement going on down there, Harry knows it might be getting a little _too heated_ now. 

As a way to cool things off, Harry drags Louis off the dance floor and finally heads back to their table. They stop off at the bar real quick to order a round of drinks, and Harry knows they should probably stop by now considering they are way past tipsy, but he's having fun, and he likes the feeling of being a care free drunk. Harry orders himself another martini while Louis gets another pint. Once they get their drinks, they walk over to their area and take a seat on the couch, but before Harry actually gets to sit on the cushions, he's being yanked over so he lands on Louis' lap. Harry giggles as he stumbles his way over, carefully not trying to spill his drink in the process, but Louis' hands are on him quickly to keep him steady, and there's something about the way Louis' palm resting at the dip of Harry's spine that makes something uneasy settle deep inside of Harry. He knows it's a touch Louis does all the time, but now that Louis is drunk and slightly hard, there is a small red alert going off in the back of Harry's mind that keeps warning him to really cool things off. Harry knows Louis gets touchy when he's drunk, and it's obvious that when alcohol is involved, horniness is included, and the last time Harry had to deal with Louis being horny and not getting satisfied, it turned into a shit show. Harry tries not to worry too much, but he knows he needs to be mindful of that so they don't end up having a repeat. 

Except, it doesn't get any better, unfortunately. Niall is coming back with another round of shots, and even though Harry is hesitant to take them now, he still does, but he does it slowly, mainly watching Louis as he tosses his own back like it's water. Harry gulps and sets the glass on the table when he's finished and then decides that since they have company, maybe it's a good time he finds his own seat on the couch rather than Louis' lap. Harry makes the attempt to roll off of Louis, but Louis' arm tighten around his body before Harry's being pulled closer into Louis' chest. Harry feels a small surge of panic rise inside of him, but he tries his best to push it aside. Louis just ... Louis just wants to hold Harry. That's it, and his cock that's nudging up into Harry's ass means nothing. They're clubbing, and there really isn't no need for Louis to be hard ... right?

"Harryyy," Louis whines, hands sliding down Harry's back so they can rest right at the top of Harry's ass. Harry looks down and sees that Louis is pouting, his blue eyes blinking almost innocently, like he's wanting something from Harry. 

Whatever it is, Harry knows he won't be able to give him. Unless it's a kiss. That's something Harry is willing to give. 

"What Louis?" Harry indulges, trying to ignore the way Louis' fingers begin mindlessly kneading his ass. It really is just harmless, and Harry really has no reason to get over reactive. Louis is his boyfriend, and Harry's trusts Louis so he has nothing to worry about. 

It's just, Harry is staring to get a little panicky, maybe more so than normal since they're in public and alcohol is involved. 

"You're being a little m-minx tonight," Louis slurs out. 

Harry sighs and looks away from Louis' face, licking his lips and frowning when he feels one of Louis' hand rest right on the inside of his thigh. "I am not."

"Oh, yes you are," Louis smiles, squeezing where both his hands lie. Harry huffs and finally attempts at moving Louis' hand off his thigh, but after a second of Harry being free from it, Louis puts it back on as he leans his lips right up against Harry's ear. "You grinding your ass on me - licking my neck - kissing me. You're getting me worked up."

Harry lets out a slow, steady breath to keep all the anxiety inside him at bay, but it's getting really hard when both of Louis' hands are touching him so intimately. Harry tries removing the one on his thigh again, but Louis does what he did before and waits a second before he puts it back on. Harry is just about ready to jump off Louis' lap and maybe run far away from where he is at, really getting overwhelmed with the way Louis is touching him in front of all these people, but he seems to get saved when he sees Liam lightly kick at Louis' shin. Louis frowns and looks at Liam, about ready to ask him what his deal is, but then Liam is turning his attention to Harry. 

"Hey, H, would you mind getting us another round? You can put it on mine or Lou's card."

Harry nods his head and finally gets free from Louis' arms. "Sure," he whispers under his breath, gulping when the hand Louis had on the top of Harry's ass slowly run down it as Harry stands to his feet. Harry tries to ignore the sinking feeling inside his chest in favor of walking away. Liam watches him as he goes, and he waits until Harry is sort of hidden beyond the influx of people in the club before he's turning to Louis and kicking him again, this time, much harsher. 

"Louis!" Liam nearly growls, even going as far as leaning across to grab the pint of beer out of Louis' hand. "You need to stop drinking."

Louis groans and slumps against the couch. "What, why?" he snaps, eyebrows furrowing. "Why are you kicking me? Why are you stealing my drink?"

"Louis, you just need to chill out," Zayn responds more calmly. "You know alcohol messes with your - "

"You're making Harry uncomfortable," Liam ends up blurting out, not letting Zayn finish his sentence.

There's a moment when Louis freezes as he lets the words settle inside of him. He doesn't like that he's being accused of making Harry feel uncomfortable, and he doesn't like it that his friends are the ones telling him this and not Harry. Louis thought he and Harry were having a good time. They've made out. They had shots. They grinded on the dance floor. Louis really doesn't know what he even has done to make Harry feel that way. If anything, Harry has been the one initiating everything. 

"I don't understand," Louis eventually says. 

Liam rolls his eyes. "You're touching and humping him in public."

"He started it," Louis whines, turning to Niall to see if he can get some help from him, but Niall winces. 

"Yeah, mate. I think it's getting too much for him," Niall admits shyly. 

Louis sighs, shaking his head, still slightly confused, and still very much drunk. "But he's the one that licked my neck in front of you guys, and he's the one who wanted to dance, and he's the one who kept giving me shots. I don't even know what I did wrong." There's a small surge of anger that Louis feels rising inside of him, and it's very unusual for him to feel such a thing when he hasn't had his anger appear in what has felt like forever. Louis tries to ignore it in favor of taking another sip of his beer, but it doesn't help when Zayn pushes his hand away from grabbing his glass. 

"I mean yeah, he did do that," Niall agrees with a frown, shrugging. "He was comfortable then. You weren't drunk. He was in control. It was harmless fun beforehand, mate, but now, with all the alcohol that you guys have been drinking, he's probably ready to slow down."

"Plus," Zayn cuts in. "You know better."

Louis rolls his eyes because he doesn't like Zayn or Liam or Niall talking to him like he's clueless. The three of them act like they know absolutely everything int he world, and it's starting to get on Louis' nerves. All Louis intended to do tonight was have fun with his friends and his boyfriend, but somehow his boyfriend is getting uncomfortable and his friends want to nag him on how he is behaving. It's not an ideal night after attending an award show, and it's definitely putting a big damper in Louis' mood. He's currently a mixture of confused, drunk, angry, and happy, and right now he isn't too sure which emotion he wants to focus on. Louis' head is spinning with all that he is feeling, and instead of trying to continue this conversation with his friends to tell them just how wrong they are for accusing Louis of such things, he ends up glancing at the bar in hopes of seeking out his curly headed cutie. He gets lucky when he sees Harry walking up to talk to the bartender, and he can't help when he lets his eyes start to trail all over the back of Harry's body, admiring the way he looks and the way Harry's tight jeans frame his perfect ass. 

"Hello," Harry greets the bartender, soon wincing when he realizes he has no idea what to order. "Um, can I get like a round of shots. Maybe ten ... I think."

"Tequila?" The bartender questions. 

Harry raises his eyebrow. "Sure." Harry leans up against the counter while the bartender turns to get the shots ready. He waits and ignores all the people that keep bumping in to him and screaming out what drinks they want, but then he's feel a hand pressing against his shoulder blades, and for a moment he thinks it's Louis who had come joined him, but when he turns to look at the source of the touch, he blanches, feeling his heart suddenly stop and the hairs on his arms stand up. 

"Well, if it isn't the marvelous Harry Styles."

Harry swallows and tries shimmying the touch off of him. "Tanner," he mumbles under his breath before he is turning back to the bar to focus on getting his tray of shots, but Tanner doesn't budge up, if anything, he scoots closer, having his hand linger around Harry's hip. 

"You look hot tonight," Tanner says, licking his lips as he blatantly eyes Harry up and down the length of his body, making sure to stop at his ass to have a long look at it.

Harry lets out a shaky breath and tries to turn his body some so Tanner doesn't have much to look at. It doesn't stop Tanner from looking at him though, and when Harry continues to feel more uneasy, he tries looking past Tanner to see if he could catch Louis' eyes, but Harry finds that their sitting area is empty, and now he's really starting to get anxious being in the pretense of his horrid ex. 

"You're drunk," Harry ends up saying, insecurely crossing his legs over one another and attempting to take a small step back from Tanner. 

Tanner smirks, following his step and leaning in closer so his mouth is pressing right up against Harry's ear. "So is Louis," he whispers, laughing wickedly as he pulls back. "It almost seems like the little football star is trying to get what he wants with you tonight. Maybe the alcohol is helping his luck."

Harry's eyebrows furrow together. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Baby," Tanner tsks, shaking his head and reaching up to hold the side of Harry's face. "It's obvious he wants to fuck you and move on. Isn't that what he always does do his flings?"

Harry's heart starts rabbiting in his chest, and he tries his best to keep his breathing in a regular pattern, but Tanner always brought the nerves out in Harry, and the fact that Tanner believes Louis just wants to fuck him and leave doesn't settle right inside of him. It doesn't help that Harry has always had those lingering thoughts in the back of his head, but having to hear it from someone like Tanner does not feel the best. However, Harry is thankfully saved from his inner turmoil when Louis is pushing his way through the crowd of people. It looks as if he is genuinely looking for Harry, but the second his blue eyes land on Tanner, they harden. Louis ends up quickening his pace to get right beside Harry, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him in close as a way to protect him from the man standing in front of them. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Louis nearly growls, having that small surge of anger reappear. Harry shivers when he hears the bite in his tone, but when he looks up at Tanner, he sees that the boy is already looking back, eyebrows raised and head slightly tilted as if he's telling Harry his point is proven. Harry doesn't understand it. 

"You know it's true. Don't be surprised when it happens." Then, Tanner walks away, his presence being replaced by the tray of shots the bartenders brings. 

Harry hates how he stands there and actually lets Tanner's word settle in his mind. 

"Let's go," Louis grumbles under his breath. He grabs the tray of shots with one hand and uses his arm around Harry's waist as his guide to walk the two of them back to their area. Harry sees that Niall, Liam and Zayn have returned, but at their approach, Niall is standing with wide, worried eyes. 

"Is Tanner here?" he questions. 

Louis' features harden as he helps Harry sit on the couch. "Yes, _fuck_." Louis huffs and grabs one of his shots to throw back before he's sitting next to Harry, evidently still pissed about seeing that boy. 

It's a bit awkward now as Harry sits there. He has Louis next to him, their bodies still close and touching, Louis still angry, and Tanner's words replaying over and over in his mind. It's not like Harry actually believes what Tanner is saying, but Harry has been having problems with Louis and with sex. Louis wants to have sex, and he's made it quite obvious that he's getting frustrated the longer Harry holds out, and like, Harry gets it. Harry wants it too, but his feelings keep getting in the way. Harry believes that Louis does like him - maybe even loves him - but it's hard to hold on to the that when Louis is so aggressive in trying to sleep with him rather than admitting how he feels about Harry. Harry wants Louis to confirm that what they have is more than just sex. Harry wants Louis to wipe away all the doubts that are lingering in the back of his mind and completely counteract Tanner's assumptions that once he gets to have Harry he'll leave. Harry's at this point where he needs _something_ \- a small reassurance that he isn't so crazy for being in love with Louis - that maybe the feeling _is mutual_ and Louis is going to love him even after they finally have sex. 

It's just so fucking much right now, and Harry never knew this was what being in love felt like. It's so fucking complicated. 

"So, what shots did you get?" Zayn eventually asks when the growing silence between them all was becoming too deafening. 

Louis grumbles some cuss words under his breath and reaches to grab his second shot to down. Harry turns his head and watches with a frown as he finishes that shot before grabbing his beer again. Harry almost feels confident enough to maybe ask Louis to slow down on the drinks - he can tell that Louis is pissed, and Louis being pissed while drunk is probably not a good combination - but then Louis' arm is going around Harry's back, and Harry is reminded that Louis needs Harry like this to remain calm, but somehow, this time is different. Instead of Louis using his arm around Harry as an anchor to keep him calm, it seems like he's doing it more to fill other needs. He yanks Harry into his side, almost to the point where Harry's on his lap again, and lightly traces his finger up and down Harry's bicep, and even though Harry normally likes when Louis does this, something about it tonight just doesn't settle right with Harry. Harry doesn't know at what point tonight Louis' touches went from sweet and comfortable to cringy and uncomfortable, but it has, and all Harry wants to do is crawl away and hide somewhere to where he can't be touched by _anyone_. Seeing Tanner also didn't help anything.

"I _uh -_ I don't remember," Harry mumbles in response to Zayn's question, gulping nervously as he drops his eyes to his lap, thankful enough that Louis' hand isn't there yet. Louis does lean over to kiss Harry's cheek though, and for the first time in probable forever, Harry tenses at the feeling. 

"It's tequila," Louis answer for him, now happier than he was a moment ago. It seems like his anger has subsided as he passes around the rest of the shots to everyone else, only giving Harry one of his so he can have the other. Harry grabs it slowly and purses his lips. "Alright, let's take these then go dance it off."

The three lads easily take the shots without any problem, even Louis, but Harry is still holding his one as he watches all of them, mainly Louis, down the liquor like it's nothing. It reminds Harry that Louis is well past the point of being drunk that alcohol doesn't even taste like alcohol anymore, and he must be too drunk right now to actually taste anything, and that doesn't settle right with Harry. Harry's already seen that drunk Louis wants to be close to him and very _touchy_ , and right now, Harry is way too uncomfortable to actually do anything other than tense away from any touch that Louis wants to give him. It's really hard to avoid anything though when Louis is _right there_. Harry wants to speak up and say something, stop anything from happening, but his words keep dying in his throat, and his confidence is dissipating as the seconds tick by. Harry doesn't even stop Louis when Louis grabs the shot from his hand to throw it back for him, or when Louis grabs his hand to drag him out on to the dance floor. He just feels so stuck in his own body that he can't find the right words to actually voice any of the discomfort that he is feeling, and he knows that this good night that is supposed to happen is now turning into a bad night. 

"Louis needs to stop drinking," Zayn says once Harry and Louis are gone, mainly turning to Liam with a look of concern on his face. "You know that shit fucks up with his medicine."

Liam nods, grunting. "Yeah, and Tanner being here doesn't help shit at all."

"I'm just worried about Harry," Niall admits, twisting his lips and watching Louis crowd himself up against Harry on the dance floor. "You know, he's never been in a proper relationship or had sex, and Louis has been ... Louis' just being very persistent with things, and Harry isn't used to that. He came to my flat one day in near tears because Louis was pushing him to have sex."

Zayn hums, subltly shaking his head. "I don't know, mate. Louis' anger issues and the medicine he takes does fuck with his head sometimes, especially when he drinks too much, and normally me and Li are the ones who keep him in place, but with Harry, it's different. I don't think Louis would ever actually put Harry in danger. He's in love with him, big time. 

Niall raises his eyebrows, slightly surprised. "You really think Louis is in love with Harry?"

"Oh, definitely," Liam responds with a laugh. "In all honesty, I think Louis' feelings for Harry fuck with his head as well, amongst all the other things that goes on in there. Louis just needs to be more responsible about it, but at the same time, I don't even think he's aware of it. He can get like that sometimes."

Niall grunts under his breath and glances back out on to the dance floor, seeing Harry and Louis are still dancing together. It didn't look too obscene considering the music playing is one people mainly jump around to. Harry and Louis are following along with the crowd, arm in the air and dancing to the beat of the song. Harry's even laughing at some random dance move that Louis does, but then when the music changes, so does the style of dancing. It's a slow shift from the way Harry and Louis are goofing off to being back in each other's space. It's starts off with them being chest to chest, rolling their hips together and idly thrusting in to each other's groins, but then it takes a slight turn when Louis takes the lead, and that's when Harry's smile drops. Louis gets his hands on Harry's hips and abruptly turns his body around, now having Harry pressing his ass up against his groin and resuming the dancing position they were in hours before. Louis doesn't do much other than continue to move his hips in sync with Harry, using his hands as a guide to keep Harry on beat to the song. Harry finds himself actually relaxing to the dancing and leaning back some so he can be closer. Louis isn't being too much, and they've danced like this before so he does try to enjoy himself and the way it feels to have Louis rolling his hips up against his back. Then Louis' mouth is making contact with the side of Harry's neck, and Harry finds himself closing his eyes and slightly moaning at the way Louis leaves hot kisses up the column of his neck. It feels good, great even to have Louis finally kissing him again, but it doesn't stop Harry from being mindful of Louis' hands that are now trailing from his hips to his stomach, slowly inching towards the front of his jeans. 

That's when Harry opens his eyes. 

"Louis," Harry warns, trying to push Louis' hands back to his hips, not wanting another wave of discomfort hit him. Harry was finally feeling relatively okay with the dancing they were doing, but if Louis starts to get touchy like that again, he's not sure he'll be okay. 

Louis places his hands back on Harry's waist, but he keeps kissing his skin and shaking his hips against Harry. "Hmm?" Louis mumbles under his breath, trailing his lips up to Harry's ear and kissing him there. Harry lets out a sigh and continues to dance with Louis, thinking that things will remain this calm, but of course, that doesn't happen. Louis' hands are back to roaming over Harry's body, and his hips are starting to become more forceful in the way they're rolling into Harry ass, and now Harry is back to feeling so uncomfortable in his own skin that he is finally fed up with this night. He's tired of the kissing. He's tired of the touching. He's tired of all of this happening while there are people around, and Harry just needs a fucking break from everything. 

"Okay, enough," Harry calls out, ripping his body out of Louis' hold and turning around to face Louis, seeing a genuinely confused expression on his face. "I need you to stop touching me like that, Louis. We're in public."

Louis' eyebrows furrow together, idly trying to reach for Harry again, mainly his wrist, but Harry shoves him off. "Harry what - "

"I'm- I'm sorry, I just can't."

Harry steps away from Louis and begins walking his way through the crowd. He's trying to push past people and make it as far away from Louis as he can, maybe hoping to find Niall in the process so he can go home with him rather than with Louis. He doesn't understand why Louis has been acting like this or why he's been so persistent in touching, but Harry can only take so much of it before he needs his own space. Harry is just about to make his way off the dance floor and walk towards their sitting area when he suddenly feels a hand grab at his bicep, and for a second, Harry thinks it's Louis again, but when he gets abruptly turned around to face the culprit, he sees that it's Tanner, and Harry's night suddenly goes from worse to absolute shit. 

"What do you want Tanner?"

"He's doing it again, huh?" He asks with a smirk, refusing to let go of Harry. "He wants to fuck you, and he doesn't care how uncomfortable that makes you feel. I told you that's all he wants."

Harry's features harden as he shakes Tanner off his body. "You don't know anything. You just like to make shit up and tell it off to people to make yourself feel good." It goes without saying Harry is referring to all the shit Tanner used to say in Collingham about Harry. 

"You know, you like to stand here and be a little bitch to me about what I've done to you when Louis is doing the exact same thing. The only difference is that he's doing it out in public. At least I was decent enough to keep it inside the bedroom, but you're too much of a virgin twat to actually get anywhere past kissing. You like to rile them up and then shut them down. A true, fucking tease."

Harry rolls his eyes and steps back. "You're an idiot, Tanner. Again, you know nothing about me and Louis. _You_ nearly raped me. _You_ were a shitty boyfriend. _You_ told lies about me to the school. _You_ humiliated me, and _you_ punched me in the jaw. All Louis has done was save my ass from you every time."

Tanner nearly growls as he reaches over to grab on to Harry's arm again, this time, making sure he has a firm enough grip to where Harry has no room to escape. A small yelp of pain comes out of Harry when he feels nails puncturing his skin, and all of a sudden, it's like all of Harry's discomfort, uneasiness, anxiety, everything comes rushing back to him, and it's suddenly like the world is closing in on him and he has no room to breathe. 

"You know, I don't see Louis saving your ass from me this time," Tanner grumbles with a smirk, a sickening sweet one that makes Harry shiver. "Last time I checked, I saw Louis trying to get with you on the dance floor, but yet again, you riled him up and then walked away. That's the same shit you did to me - a true fucking virgin you are."

Harry whines and tries to pry Tanner's hand off of him, but it doesn't release. "I-I did nothing to you. I didn't love you. I didn't want to be with you, and I didn't want to have sex with you."

"But you want to have sex with Louis?" Tanner snaps, fingers tightening on Harry's arm. "He's no better than me. He likes to have his flings, fuck 'em for a good time, and then move to the next one. So unless that's something you want, then you must be in it for his money. Maybe all the tabloids were right. Maybe you do want Louis to be your sugar daddy so you can make yourself feel better about not being poor."

Harry feels his heart drop and the room starting to spin. He doesn't understand why all of this is happening so suddenly or why all these accusations are being thrown at him, but he doesn't like it. He can't even breathe without it coming out as a cough, his eyes are starting to get blurry with tears, and all Harry really wants to do is curl up in his bed, his bed at home-home.

"P-Please stop, okay? I get it, but p-please."

"What?" Taner laughs, shaking his head. "Can't handle the truth?"

Harry whimpers when Tanner yanks him closer and his fingers dig impossibly deeper. "Why won't you leave me alone?" Harry whines, feeling Tanner's finger nail finally pushing through his skin and leaving a cut. Harry hisses at the feeling. 

Tanner smirks as he leans in to Harry's space. His other hand comes around Harry's back and goes down to grip his ass while he tries pushing his lips against Harry's. Harry's eyes widen in fear and attempts to jerk his head in different directions to keep Tanner's lips off of him, but Tanner is persistent in trying to kiss him. Harry is trying with all his might to get Tanner off and away from him. He has his free arm not occupied by Tanner come out to push his body off his own, but Tanner growls and continues to push forward. Harry turns his head to the side and closes his eyes when he feels his ass being groped and Tanner's hips thrusting up in to his body. Harry whines when Tanner's teeth come out to nibble on the side of his neck before Tanner is pressing his lips everywhere. Harry does his best to wiggle himself free, but Tanner's hold on him is absolutely tight, and right now, he has absolutely no idea where Louis or his friends are because he would be more than glad if they could help him get free from Tanner. He's losing all his will to fight, and he really can't breathe with the way Tanner is suffocating him. All Harry wants to do is fall to the floor and curl up in a ball, but he can't even do that because Tanner's fingers are digging into his skin. 

Right when Harry feels on the verge of having a panic attack, the entire day placing a heavy weight on his body, he sees Louis pushing his way through the crowd of people. Harry feels relief suddenly flooding throughout his body, however, when he gets a good look of Louis' face, he sees nothing but pure rage across his features. Harry's eyes widen when the fire in Louis' blue eyes snap over to him, and before Harry has a chance to say anything at all, Louis is rushing up to Tanner, gripping the back of his shirt, and pulling him off Harry's body. 

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Louis bellows out, now facing Tanner, breathing heavily with how angry he is. Louis doesn't even wait for a response. He stomps over to Tanner and ends up pushing him over a table. That's when Harry notices Liam, Zayn and Niall rushing over to their area, and before they can actually make it to Harry to check on him, Louis turns around to walk up to Harry, softening just a little. "Are you okay?"

Harry opens his mouth to respond, trying to push aside his nerves and the frightened feeling inside of him, but Tanner is standing up from the ground and wiping off the drinks that got all over his skin. "Don't worry," he smirks, cracking his knuckles like he's prepared for a fight. "We were getting well past the point of being _okay_."

Harry groans when he sees every single soft feature on Louis' face harden before Louis is ripping himself away from Harry. Louis turns on his heels and charges right towards Tanner, and when Harry makes a move like he's about to follow, maybe stop Louis from doing anything stupid, Liam is getting in his way and pushing him back. 

"You don't want to get in the middle of that," Liam explains softly, keeping Harry at bay as Zayn and Niall come join. "His anger is uncontrollable right now."

Zayn nods. "He could be having an episode, which, is _not good_."

Harry sighs and angles his head around them, watching Louis push Tanner to the floor again. 

"What the fuck, man?" Tanner growls. 

Louis huffs, walking to stand over Tanner's body. "I told you to leave him the fuck alone."

Harry sees Louis sizing up as Tanner gets on his feet, looking as if he's about ready to punch the other boy. Harry doesn't think twice about pushing his way past Liam and rushing up to Louis to grab on his arm and prevent him from doing anything rash. Honestly, Harry knows he's being reckless by intervening when Louis is acting this way, but he also knows that Louis has had a good media rep for the past few months, and the last thing Harry wants is for Louis to get into any trouble, especially since he just won an award that night.

"Louis, stop," Harry begs, turning Louis around so they could face each other, trying to get Louis' eyes to settle on him. "Look at me." Harry brings a hand up to caress the side of his cheek, wanting Louis to stop shooting mental daggers at Tanner's face and to instead focus on Harry's green eyes. "I'm okay, just look at me." 

It takes a couple of seconds before Louis is finally settling his eyes on Harry's, and once he does, Harry can feel his body start to relax. The fire that once burned in Louis' blue eyes is starting to go away, and he is beginning to look relatively sane again. Harry finally lets out a breath of relief when he thinks he has Louis back to himself, even Zayn and Liam are sharing a surprised look with one another because they've never seen someone calm Louis down the way Harry is, but of course, in that moment is when Tanner decides to open his mouth again, a condescending laugh coming out. 

"What a pussy," he mutters. 

Harry feels Louis tense up and a flash of anger cross Louis' eyes, but Harry tightens his grip and refuses to let Louis go over there. Instead, Zayn and Liam are stepping in his place. 

"Mate, you should be glad he's not coming for you," Liam warns. 

Tanner snorts, crossing his arms over his chest, "I think that - " He's interrupted when Zayn takes matters into his own hands and sends a hard punch to Tanner's nose. 

Harry turns his head at the sound of the punch and widens his eyes when Tanner falls back on the table. Zayn is wincing and shaking his hand in the air from the punch and ends up grabbing ice from a stray cup of water to put over his knuckles. Then Liam, Zayn and Niall are guiding all of them out the way of the crowd that has gathered around to move them closer to their sitting area. Once they don't have so many eyes on their bodies, Harry lets out a huff and steps back from all four of them. 

"This is ridiculous," He growls, shaking his head and eyes hardening at Louis. "Can you really not go without trying to punch someone? Did you not learn anything the last time you did it?"

Louis blinks slowly as he tries to come back to himself. He looks over at Harry slightly confused and slightly upset, and if Harry wasn't mad himself, he would see that Louis looks out completely out of it, like he's trying to recover from his own anger spiel. Liam and Zayn are used to it. They know what happens after Louis has an angry episode and most of the time, after all his anger disappears, he left with sadness. 

"Harry," Liam cuts in, trying to place a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Don't do this - " He attempts to say, but Harry shrugs him off with a groan. 

"No, don't tell me not to do anything," Harry nearly cries out. "Louis just won a freaking award tonight, and he has eyes watching him all the time. Why the hell would he think it's smart to get himself into a club fight? Am I the only one that's thinking fucking rational here?" Harry looks between all of them not entirely expecting an answer. "He's willing to throw everything he's been working towards away because some boy wanted to touch me and harass me when Louis had been doing the same thing all night. That makes no sense, and it's freaking ridiculous." Harry shakes his head and turns around briefly, needing something else to look at for a moment before he's facing forward again. 

Louis frowns. "Harry, I - "

"No, I don't want to hear it," Harry interrupts. "I've been wanting to go home for hours, and I've been wanting you to stop touching me for hours, and I'm just - I'm so freaking pissed off and so freaking disappointed in you."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't - "

"Yeah, you didn't fucking mean too,-" Harry finishes for him, eyes going watery again as he blinks away from Louis. "Just like last time. You didn't mean to let things get too far. Just like you didn't mean it when you asked if I would ever be ready." Harry shakes his head and laughs bitterly. "I'm not playing this game with you anymore, Louis. I already told you that if you can't control yourself whenever you get horny, then you need to find someone else who is willing to give you what I'm not ready for. If you can't bother to keep your hands to yourself after I try to get you to stop, then you have no right trying to get pissy when someone else does it. My body isn't yours to claim, Louis." Harry huffs and turns to Niall. "I want to leave. Now."

Niall nods his head and slowly walks towards Harry. Harry turns on his heel and immediately starts heading towards the exit while Niall looks at the other three boys with an apologetic look on his face. Once they're gone, and Louis is left with Zayn and Liam, he slumps on the couch and covers his face. 

"Why do I keep fucking everything up?" He whines. 

Liam and Zayn share a look with one another and see that although they're back in their section, people are still subtly watching everything. Liam sighs and reaches for Louis' arm. "Let's just get out of here, mate. Not the time or place to deal with everything."

Zayn and Liam manage to get Louis out the club safely with minimal fans and paparazzi getting pictures. They quickly call a cab to come pick them up, and once they're finally in the safety of the vehicle rather than in the spotlight of other, Liam and Zayn turn to look at each other again, wondering how the fuck they ended the night like this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Opinions. Opinions. Opinions? (:
> 
> Also .... a fun chapter is coming up (;


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the drama will come to an end. This chapter ends on a good note, and then the next one is something to look forward to (;

**Breaking News: Catch Louis Tomlinson almost getting in another ** ** club brawl  
** **Breaking News: Video of Louis Tomlinson and boyfriend Harry Styles arguing  
** **Breaking News: Hot New Couple Larry Stylinson OVER Before Things Get Started**

**Trending:**

**#LarryBreakUp  
** **#ElounorForever  
** **#LarryStylinson  
** **#LouisTomlinson**

 **@LWTUpdates tweeted:** _Louis and Harry both left the club separately and have not been seen together in days. Sources say Harry is back home for good and plans on not getting back together with Louis. # LarryStylinson_

 **@TommoChick91 tweeted:** _I SAW THE WHOLE THING HAPPEN! Louis & this bloke were arguing then Louis' friend punched the bloke and then Harry got SO PISSED OFF. Harry stormed out the club and left Louis! Wow there really is a #LarryBreakUp_

 **@ElounorSupporter tweeted:** _I knew it was inevitable before Louis went back to Eleanor. #ElounorRise_

//

After Louis is finished reading all the bullshit online, he groans and tosses his phone across the bed, not even caring that it ends up crashing on to the floor. How can Louis worry about that when all he can focus on is the fact that he has no idea where he and Harry stand. Harry just left the club and refused to make any form of contact with Louis. They haven't talked. They haven't texted. They haven't even seen each other since that night. All of Harry's shit is still in Louis' flat, and Louis doesn't know what he's supposed to do with it. He hopes they're not broken up. It's not like Harry actually uttered those words to him, but this never ending silence from that boy does make Louis think that things between them are truly over. It sucks, and Louis is miserable right now. 

"Alright, sunshine, get up," Zayn calls out as he walks into Louis' room. He makes sure to walk over to Louis' windows and presses the button that lifts the curtains up. He then goes over to the bed and rips the comforter off Louis' body. "It's game day, and we need to win."

Louis pouts as he sits up. "He still hasn't answered any of my messages." Louis sighs and glances at where his phone is on the ground, pouting even more when it lays there blank without any messages. "Fuck," Louis groans, flopping back on the mattress and running his hands down the sides of his face. "Our one year is coming up, too."

"Louis, just give him some time, mate."

Louis rolls his eyes over to Zayn. "I have been. It's becoming too much time. I just fucking miss him."

"I'm sure he misses you, too," Zayn eases, walking over to join Louis on the bed. "But sitting here on the bed bitching about it won't do anything. You know that. He didn't even say he was breaking up with you. He probably just needs some space to calm down before he talks to you."

Louis whines. "His art showing is coming up in a few days, too." 

"I know. We all got invited."

"Am I supposed to still go?" Louis questions frantically, sitting up on the bed and turning to Zayn with wide eyes. 

Zayn shrugs. "That's up to you, mate." He then stands from the bed. "But again, laying here won't solve anything, you know that. It's time to get up, fix your shit, and win a game."

Louis groans because _he knows_ Zayn is right. If Louis wants anything to happen, like him and Harry actually finding time to communicate, then he is going to have to get off his ass and make a better attempt at communicating with him. Plus, Louis really does have a game today, and Harry is most likely going to show up. Harry can never pass on an opportunity to take pictures, and if Louis does catch him there, he's hoping he can stop Harry long enough to talk. So Louis gets up from the bed, walking towards the bathroom with Zayn following behind, almost like Zayn is keeping a watch out on him. 

Louis walks to the sink and grabs his toothbrush. "I don't know what's going on with me, honestly," Louis grumbles under his breath, putting some paste on his brush. "I just lose all sense of control around him, and it fucking sucks." Louis huffs and finally shoves his toothbrush in his mouth. 

"There's nothing going on with you, Lou," Zayn responds softly, hopping up on the counter and making it apparent that he grabs Louis' medicine from the cabinet to hand to him. Louis rolls his eyes and opens his palm up, letting Zayn place the pill in his hand. "You have feelings for a change. That's all."

Louis spits out his toothpaste after he's done brushing his teeth and runs the water in the sink. "Whatever," he grumbles, cupping his hand so he can clean the mint from his mouth before he's taking his medicine. Zayn watches him carefully, and when he sees that Louis swallows the pill, he nods to himself and grabs his phone. Zayn begins anxiously typing on the screen, and Louis notices it through the reflection of the mirror so he turns his body and tries to look at who Zayn is messaging, but Zayn quickly tilts his phone away. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one," He mumbles in response, pocketing his phone after he sends the message before he's looking up. "It's Gigi."

Louis rolls his eyes at the weak attempt of Zayn's answer, but he doesn't push it. Instead, he walks out the bathroom and heads back into his bedroom, getting ready for the stadium by packing his bag. Zayn follows him out and waits on the bed while Louis gets ready. Once Louis has his bag packed and a relatively casual outfit thrown on his body, he walks out the closet and heads towards the bed so he can search for his phone. He's highly disappointed when there are still no messages from Harry, and the disappoint weighs heavy on Louis as he falls on top of the mattress with a dramatic groan. Maybe he should try just one more time. 

"Are you ready to go?" Zayn questions, hand reaching out to poke at Louis' back. Louis grumbles in response before burying his face into the comforter. "Come on, mate. We need to pick some food up on the way, and you need to get focused."

Louis huffs and finally pushes himself up, pouting at Zayn. "Fine," he whines, rolling off the bed and grabbing the bag he packed off the ground. He slings it over his shoulder and walks towards the door, having his last bit of hope in seeing Harry at the game settle deep in his heart. It's the best thing he can hold on to right now.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**LouisTomlinson:** Game day ... 

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//

Harry stares at the Insta picture for a long minute before he's groaning and tossing his phone on the couch. Harry huffs and slouches against the cushions as he crosses his arms over his chest, pouting at the ground. It's been a constant mantra of receiving messages from Louis and being too stubborn to actually respond to any. Then every time Harry decides to get on social media, it's like he's reminded of the night at the club that he tries very hard to forget about, but people are constantly hounding them both about the status of their relationship, and Harry's getting exhausted with everything. He misses Louis, but he needs his space from Louis. Harry wants to talk to him, but at the same time, he doesn't know how many times he can repeat the same thing until he burns himself out. All of this because of sex ... and being in love, and Harry really thinks it's so ridiculous this is happening in the first place, but he can't do anything at all until Louis is the one who admits his feelings. It needs to happen. 

Harry's silence is interrupted when Niall is bustling through his front door, a Chelsea jersey in his hand, and that's when Harry realizes he has tears in his own eyes. Harry quickly straightens up in his seat and wipes under his eyes, sniffling and trying his best to clear away any tears that had made an appearance on his face. He doesn't do too good of a job because Niall is walking to sit next to him with a sad smile on his face, hand coming out to gently pat at Harry's back. 

"Are you okay, H?"

Harry lets out a deep breath and looks back down to the ground. "Yeah," he whispers, frowning, glancing at his hands and starting to pick off the nail polish on his nails. Harry sighs and feels more tears starting to surface, quickly trying to blink them away, but there are some already rolling down his cheek. "I just miss him a lot."

"I know, mate," Niall eases, pulling Harry into his side and giving him a cuddle. "Here, take this." Niall hands over the jersey in his hand to Harry, watching Harry carefully unfold it to see Tomlinson 17 printed on the back. Harry sighs and looks back at Niall, eyebrows raised. 

"What are you doing?"

"I have more," Niall adds. He briefly stands from the couch and pulls out some things from his pocket. When he showcases Harry what it is, Harry sees that it's blue nail polish, nail polish remover, and a couple of cotton balls. Harry furrows his brows together and takes those from Niall as well.

"Now I'm really confused."

Niall brightens up and grabs the jersey from Harry, stretching it out with his hands. "You need to get ready for the game."

" _Um_ ," Harry sighs, setting all the nail materials on the coffee table in front of him. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

Niall huffs and sets the jersey on his lap, reaching for Harry's hand before grabbing the polish remover and cotton balls. He begins removing the old pain on Harry's nails for him, taking initiative. "Yes, Harry. We're going. Stop avoiding."

Harry pouts again and slumps against the back of the couch, sighing as he watches Niall remove all the paint leftover on his nails. He knows Niall has a point. Harry has been very avoidant when it comes to Louis, and he knows that it's going to come to a point where Louis pushes further than messages on the phone. At least with the game Louis will be distracted, and it's more than likely they actually won't have the time to talk about anything so really, the Chelsea game today can be a great distraction. Harry can even bring his camera and occupy his time by taking photos of the team, using that as his way to distract himself from Louis. 

"Alright," Niall announces once he's finished removing Harry's nail color. He pushes the jersey on his lap back in Harry's direction, smiling brightly when Harry grabs it. "Put this on."

Harry rolls his eyes. "Do I really have to wear his jersey?"

"It'll help him play better," Niall reasons with. "Hurry and change so we can paint your nails blue."

Harry obliges and quickly shucks the shirt he is wearing to replace it with the jersey that Niall brought him. He then offers one of his hands to Niall and watches as Niall begins painting the Chelsea blue on his nails. Harry ends up frowning. "You know I can't go out there with nail polish on, right?"

Niall rolls his eyes at the comment, playfully painting some of the polish on Harry's forearm. "Hush, Harry. Wear your polish proudly."

Harry lets out a dramatic groan, but he lets Niall finish painting the rest of his nail. It takes a couple of minutes of Harry casually watching his plain nail get covered in blue, and it's something that ends up relaxing him. Harry's always liked painting his nails for this exact reason. He loves the satisfying feeling of putting nail polish on his nails. It's always been a calming and relaxing thing Harry does to make himself feel better and to relieve any stress he's feeling. So after watching Niall paint his nails, Harry feels a hell of a lot better than he did before. 

"I'm done," Niall announces minutes later, capping the nail polish and placing it on the coffee table. 

Harry lifts his head up from where he ended up resting it on the back of the cushion to look at his finger nails. He holds his hand out in front of his face and actually admires how well Niall painted his nails. Besides the mark Niall purposely put on Harry's forearm, he managed to get all the paint on the actual nail instead of Harry's skin. Niall also managed to sneak Louis' jersey number on Harry's ring finger, having used a nail pen that Harry didn't even know he had. Harry opts to not make a comment and looks over at Niall to see what the plan is next, but he sees that he is ferociously typing on his phone like there is an urgent message he needs to send. 

Harry raises his eyebrow. "Who are you talking to?" Harry wonders. 

Niall fumbles for a second before he's quickly pocketing his phone and glancing at Harry with a faux smile. " _Uh -_ Ellie." Harry isn't all that convinced, but it's a reasonable enough answer to where Harry doesn't feel too inclined to question anymore. "You ready then?"

"Yeah, I guess," Harry sighs, standing from the couch and following Niall out the house. 

They both ride together in Niall's car and go to the back entrance of the stadium where Harry usually goes for when he takes pictures. It feels kind of wrong for Harry to get the special treatment still when he and Louis are still kind of on the outs, but at the same time, he does appreciate that those privileges aren't taken away just because of that. There's a long line outside, and there is always traffic getting in and out the stadium, and since their relationship is hot on the press, Harry is able to avoid the unnecessary press that lingers around. It's mainly because of that reason why Harry hasn't bothered to show his face in public. The last thing he wants to deal with is fans asking him questions about his relationship with Louis or the paparazzi bombarding him with photos. Harry needs his privacy kept private, and he doesn't like how everything from the moment of them walking in the club to them getting in a fight was broadcasted so publicly online. It sucks, but Harry supposes that's what he gets for dating a famous football player - a young, _hot,_ on the rise, famous football player. 

When Niall parks the car and the two of them walk to the stadium, they see Zayn waiting for them by the back entrance. It's slightly suspicious how quickly Zayn knew that Harry and Niall would be showing up, and when Harry turns to give Niall a questioning look about it, Niall simply smiles. It was probably Zayn who Niall was texting, and now Harry has suspicion about what his friends are up to at the moment. 

"Hey, lads," Zayn greets, ushering the both of them inside and handing them each another pass. "Ready to get seated?"

Niall nods eagerly. "Let's get it."

Zayn leads the two of them through the lounge area before he's finding the stairs to take them towards the seating area. Harry feels a swarm of butterflies enter his stomach when he realizes just how close he and Louis are right now. Harry knows that if he were to take the opposite hallway to the one they are currently going down, then the locker room would be right there - Louis would be right there. It's crazy to think that Harry is getting this jittery from simply being in the same vicinity as Louis. It had been a few days since the incident at the club, and Harry has kept his distance for so long that he almost forgot how his body reacted to seeing Louis. If Harry would just pull out his phone and tell Louis to come see him really quick, just so Harry can tell Louis how he really feels, he knows Louis would do it. Harry knows that at this point where the two of them are standing, Louis is desperate enough to drop whatever he is doing to talk to Harry. Unfortunately, Harry is still not ready. Harry still doesn't know if he has it in him to see Louis after the game, but he knows it's inevitable. If Niall and Zayn have anything to say about it, Harry is almost positive the two of them are planning to reunite Harry and Louis somehow. 

Zayn leads them to the first section of the stands and takes the three seats from the bottom row. Niall goes in first, Harry in the middle, and Zayn remains in the aisle seat. Once they get situated, Niall turns to Harry, genuinely looking concerned now that they have a moment to breathe. 

"How are you holding up?" Niall wonders. 

Harry sighs, lifting his shoulder in a shrug. "It feels weird being here," Harry admits truthfully, biting his bottom lip when he realizes he didn't even grab his camera. Great, he has nothing to distract himself with now. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"I'm glad you did come though," Zayn speaks up, smiling at Harry truthfully, almost thankfully. Zayn does look pretty relieved that Harry is sitting there next to him. "I know Louis will really appreciate it. Honestly."

Harry smiles and glances out on to the field, not entirely sure how he's supposed to respond to that. It's nice to know that Harry is wanted at the game by Louis, it's kind of like Louis needs Harry there as his good luck charm or something to that sorts. Harry knows that's not probably true, but it is a nice thought to have lingering in the back of his mind. He even finds himself smiling the more he thinks about it, and Harry doesn't even realize that Chelsea is running out onto the field until he sees Louis' jersey number flashing by his eyes. Harry's head twitches when notices that he's been staring into space and quickly follows Louis across the field with his eyes. Harry doesn't mean to continue staring at him, but Harry can't help it. With Louis so preoccupied warming up with the team and not paying too much attention to Harry, Harry feels like it's safe enough to actually admire Louis without getting caught. It's nice seeing Louis' beautiful face after going days without seeing it. It's nice to see him smile with his teammates and look so carefree kicking a ball around. When Louis is on that field, he doesn't look like the world is weighing down on him, and Harry is pretty glad that Louis has an outlet like football to make all his worries briefly go away. 

The game gets started shortly after Chelsea is running out on to the field, and Louis is quick at getting the ball under Chelsea's control. Everyone in the stands is already up on their feet cheering when Louis maneuvers his way through the players on the field so he can find himself an open shot with the goal. Harry has to hold his breath for a few seconds, trying his best to contain his emotions over how badly he wants Louis to score, but it seems to completely unleash when Louis makes the shot and kicks the ball into the back of the net. Harry, Zayn and Niall are all jumping up on their feet and cheering loudly when Chelsea is the first one on the board. Harry even manages to catch Louis' eyes in the midst of the celebration, and in that moment where they are looking at one another, ignoring all the people surrounding them, it seems like nothing else matters in the world but them. Then the moment gets ruined when Louis' teammates are cutting into their line of view to jump all over Louis while Niall and Zayn are turning to Harry for hugs and high fives. As quick as their small moment happened, it went away just as fast, and now Louis is back to the game, and Harry is back to sitting down feeling utterly confused and slightly disoriented. 

By the time the game is over, Chelsea wins two to one, Louis scoring one and assisting the other goal. Harry and Niall end up following Zayn out of their seating section to go back down the stairs they had originally came up on. Harry's suspicion starts to rise when he continues to follow Zayn down another hallway where he knows the player's lounge is. Harry's not entirely sure what he's expecting or why they aren't leaving, but he surely isn't surprised when Zayn drags him and Niall into the room and practically shoves them inside as a means of them waiting, most likely for Louis and Liam to finish up showering so they can join. Harry sighs as he takes a seat on the couch, knowing the inevitable is about to happen, and he's about to see Louis at some point in the next few minutes, face to face for the first time on days. 

"So, that was a good game, yeah?" Niall questions once he's settled on the couch opposite of Harry, glancing at Zayn with a smirk before looking at Harry. Harry raises an eyebrow. "Louis did pretty good."

Harry rolls his eyes and hums, crossing his left leg over his right and leaning against the couch. 

"Yeah, I'm glad he didn't play like shit. I was worried this morning," Zayn adds in, lingering around the door and mindlessly looking out the windows to the room, seeking someone out - probably Louis, if Harry has to guess. 

Harry rolls his eyes at that comment as well. His friends could at least _try_ to not be so obvious, but whatever. 

After some time of the three of them waiting around in the lounge, the door finally clicks, and for a second, Harry feels his heart drop down to his stomach, but he's quickly relieved when he sees that it's only Liam walking in. "Hey, guys," he greets happily, bounding in the room and lingering around Zayn, making eye contact with him and subtly glancing to the door. 

Harry frowns, but he doesn't say anything. Niall, on the other hand, perks up. "Where's Louis?" He asks.

"He was finishing with his shower," Liam responds, eyes glancing over to Harry like he's waiting for a reaction. Harry quickly darts his eyes to his lap and looks at his fingers, mindlessly twiddling them and trying his best to ignore everyone's eyes that are currently looking at him. It doesn't help that the entire room goes eerily silent when the door clicks again, this time Louis walking through, and now it's Harry's eyes that are looking up and directly making eye contact with him. 

Louis sucks in his breath. "Hi."

Harry feels stuck in his place where his eyes are locked in on Louis', not finding any will inside of him to actually move. This has been the closest the two of them have gotten since their fight, and Harry feels like his breath is completely sucked from the inside of his chest. Harry's highly aware he still has three pairs of eyes looking back and forth between him and Louis, evidently waiting for one of them to make the next move beyond a hello. It's still silent for the next few minutes, but finally, Liam is the one who has it in his right mind to actually not intrude on Harry and Louis reuniting with one another. He quickly shoves Zayn out the door, and he whistles at Niall to get up and follow him out. Once the three of them are gone, with the door shutting behind them, Harry and Louis are finally alone, and Harry can maybe breathe a little better now that he doesn't have everyone's eyes on him. 

"You're here," Louis continues, taking a small, hesitant step forward. "I'm so glad you're here, I've been - "

"Louis - " Harry interrupts desperately, shaking his head and warning Louis that this isn't the time to have _the_ conversation. Harry's glad he gets to see Louis and maybe talk about not their relationship, but everything is still fresh on Harry's mind, and having a conversation about their issues right after a footie game is probably not the best idea. Especially since all their friends are right outside the door and the swarm of paparazzis surrounding the stadium. 

Louis deflates a little. "I'm sorry. I know," he amends, running his fingers through his fringe. "I just mean - I'm glad you came to the game. I wasn't sure if you would or not."

"Yeah," Harry sighs under his breath. Harry breaks their eye contact first and glances down in his lap again, idly picking at the seam of his jeans. "I just needed some time is all," he explains, frowning. "I still need to think about everything and figure out what it is that's going on between us."

"Look, Harry - "

Harry shakes his head, stopping Louis from continuing, glancing up at him sadly. "Please, Louis, not right now. I can't do it like this. I know you want to talk, but _please_ , just let me do it when I'm ready. I game to the game to support you, but that's all I can give today." Harry stands from the couch and walks towards the door, hand hovering over the knob, body slightly turning back towards Louis. "I'm sorry, Louis, really."

Then Harry is walking out the door, not sparing a glance back at Louis again.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Camera man. 

//

Harry is anxiously pacing back and forth where he's hiding out in the back room of the gallery. He has his art exhibition tonight where he displays all the pictures he's taken over the course of his enrollment at the Institution, and his nerves are on a full high right now. Harry has his friends invited. Has his mother and Robin coming, but the one person who Harry wants the most is someone he has no idea if they're actually coming. Louis. Ever since Harry left the stadium without another word, Louis really has stopped all his attempts in contacting Harry, and now Harry is worried that he pushed too far to the point that Louis really has given up on them. That really was something Harry didn't necessarily want. 

"Do you think he'll show up?" Harry eventually questions, pausing his pacing long enough to turn and look at where Niall is leaning up against one of the windows, casually watching Harry have a melt down. 

Niall sighs, checking his phone, again. "I really don't know, H. I haven't heard anything."

"He stopped texting me, you know?" Harry continues, back to pacing, shaking his head and having to curl his fingers into a fist so he doesn't ruin his perfectly styled hair.

"Well, what did you two talk about after the game?"

Harry huffs and stops pacing, opting to lean up against the wall and pressing a hand to his temple. "I told him that I still needed some space from him. I practically begged him to leave me alone." Harry whines as he closes his eyes. "I didn't mean I wanted him to stop all together. I want him to be here. He told me he would come to this."

Niall shrugs. "Things are still weird between you guys. It makes sense that he doesn't exactly know what you want from him." Harry groans. "I mean, are you still mad about what happened at the club?"

"It bothers me , yeah," Harry sighs, running his hands down the sides of his face before he's stuffing them in his pockets. Harry tilts his head against the wall and looks up. "I'm just tired of the whole thing. He makes me feel so naive every time I don't give him what he wants. I just - I can't bring myself to having sex with him when _I know_ he's been in long term relationships with other people and had no feelings for them at all. I feel so foolish. He makes me feel foolish."

"You guys just need to talk about it, H. The longer it goes unsaid, the longer the two of you are miserable."

Harry hums and remains silent. He knows Niall has a point, but lately it's just been so hard for him to find the courage to speak to Louis about anything. The last thing Harry wants to do is make a fool of himself by telling Louis his feelings, but if making a fool of himself is what will get Louis to admit certain things to him, then Harry might just have to do that.

"So, have _you_ managed to talk to Louis at all?"

Niall sighs. "I've tried getting in contact with all of them, but from what I heard from Zayn, it doesn't sound too promising."

Harry's features drop as he groans, slumping against the wall and closing his eyes, trying to maintain the tears that are threatening to fill his eyes. "Can I be alone for a second?" Harry whispers under his breath, blinking his eyes open slowly. 

"Of course," Niall replies with a smile, already stepping away. "I'll try to call them again."

Harry nods his head and watches Niall walk down the hallway as he pulls his phone up against his ear. Harry can faintly hear Niall talking to who Harry presumes is Zayn, and from what Harry can hear of the conversation, it doesn't seem like they are able to get Louis to show up. Zayn and Liam had left Louis' place so they could get to Harry's showing in time, and Niall quickly informs them that he'll be meeting them by the front, officially leaving Harry alone by himself. Harry groans once no one is around and finally lets a few tears roll down his face. He only gets this small moment to himself before the announcers of the gallery are calling for all artist to head towards their stations. Harry gets up off the wall and quickly wipes away the tears on his face and tries his best at straightening himself up through the reflection of the closest window. He's lucky he hasn't full on cried yet otherwise he would look like a complete mess, but Harry looks relatively fine. His hair is still curled, and the skin on his face his smooth. Harry's outfit is nice and properly fitted, and it's time for him to walk out there and present all the pictures that he's taken. With a deep breath, Harry finally heads to his station. 

There are people already gathering around as Harry walks up to his area. He has about ten pictures up for listing, and he's proud of every single one of them. Harry steps up on to the stage and briefly looks around the crowd to catch all the familiar faces he recognizes. So far, he sees his mother and Robin, Niall, Liam and Zayn, but no Louis, and Harry really tries his best to mask his disappointment by putting on a brave face for his showing. To distract himself from Louis not being there, Harry turns towards his pictures, beginning to explain the meaning and concepts of each one with great detail. Harry tries to auction off his photos as best as he can knowing there are potential buyers and employers out in the audience. Not only can Harry make a great deal of money tonight, but he could also land a potential job offer from some of the elite. And it ends up working out by the time Harry is finished talking about his photos. While Harry lingers around his station and casually looks between all the pictures he's taken, he has a woman approaching him, dressed finely in a suit with an expensive bag slung over her shoulder and a clip board tucked under her arm. As she approaches, Harry turns and offers a welcoming smile. 

"Hello, Harry Styles, is it?"

Harry nearly feels his heart beat right out of his chest when he has famous French fashion designer Regina Walters standing right there in front of him - talking to him. Harry has to swallow his own spit and nearly kick himself in the leg to remind himself that he needs to act professional and shake her hand properly. Regina smiles amusedly. 

"Yes, yes. Hello, Regina Walters. My name is Harry Styles."

Regina nods her head and walks past Harry to stand in front of his photos, admiring each one of them thoughtfully. "I really enjoyed the presentation you gave about your photos. I can tell you're very passionate about what you do." Regina turns back to Harry and smiles. "These photos are exquisite. You did _brilliant_ in capturing all the fine details in each photo. Not very many photographers can possess a skill like yours."

"Thank you," Harry blushes, biting his bottom lip and glancing at the picture Regina is standing in front of, realizing it's the silhouette one he took at Hyde Park during sunset. Really, Harry is so proud of that one.

"How much is this one?" Regina then asks, tilting her head to the picture behind her.

Harry raises his eyebrow and steps closer to the picture, glancing at the prices placed below. "I believe the highest is five hundred right now." 

" _Absurde_ ," Regina laughs, slightly baffled. "I'll take it for a hundred."

"A hundred?"

" _Oui_ , one hundred thousand."

Harry chokes on his spit, slightly breathless. "Really?"

A bright smile breaks out on Regina's face as she turns to the picture again. " _Oui_ ," she repeats. "The picture is so _belle._ The finest I have seen in a long time. It deserves its price." 

" _Merci_ ," Harry says breathlessly, still in such shock that this amazing Fashion Designer in front of him actually wants to purchase one of _his_ paintings. 

" _Oui_." Regina begins walking towards the other pictures and starts looking at those intensely. "Have you ever considered photography in the fashion industry?" She questions casually, humming once she gets to the picture of lower class children playing and laughing in the sprinklers. She smiles at that one, even tracing her finger along the faces of one of the children. When Harry takes a second too long of actually answering, Regina turns to face him, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm not sure," Harry responds truthfully. "The most experience I have is photography with sports. I took the Chelsea banner pictures for two seasons and worked alongside with the photographer there. I mainly worked with action shots, but I know I aim to start my own studio one day. I've thought about leaning towards family or event photography, maybe wedding photography, but right now I'm willing to explore my options. I'm young, and I have years of gaining experience in the field."

"I think that's very _brilliant_ of you. If you are looking for experience, then I would love to have you come work for me."

Harry chokes, yet again. "Really?"

" _Oui,_ " Regina smiles, now pulling the clip board out from under her arm and grabbing a piece of paper off, handing it to Harry. "The photographers that work with the models and for all the fashion shoots work directly for me. I have one that is fixing to leave my company due to personal reasons so that leaves a spot open for you. Since you have experience in photography and shadowing, I was thinking you can spend some time shadowing the worker who is leaving and then build up your experience to completely replace his spot. How does that sound?"

Harry lets out a heavy breath and feels so speechless, not finding the words to voice that he would _love_ this offer. Regina Walters is a great designer based out in France and London, and this is the experience that Harry has been working hard towards. This is the opportunity of a life time, and Harry knows he would be stupid if he didn't accept it. He just has to actually find his voice first so he can let Regina know that he wants this, of course he fucking wants this. 

"Here, this paper has all the information that you need." Regina points to the paper that Harry is holding frozen in the air and smiles when Harry is still too shocked to say anything. "I understand this is a lot, but I want you to know that you are talented, and my company can do great things with you as our photographer. Give me a call."

Hary nods his head slowly and watches as Regina walks past him to go look around the entire place now that her conversation with Harry is finished. Once she leaves Harry be, Harry lifts the paper up to his face and reads everything on it before he's practically squealing. Harry's entire night had just been made, and he's so giddy and happy right now that he's about ready to jump out his shoes. Harry plans on finding his friends and family to share the good news with, but as Harry is turning around to go on his search, he's stopped in his place when he sees Louis standing directly in front of him, a hesitant smile on his face. 

"Well," Louis clears his throat, putting his hands behind his back. "You look very hipster tonight."

Harry feels his breath get knocked out of his chest again when he makes eye contact with Louis, surprised, for another time that night, seeing his boyfriend show up at his art exhibition. Not only is his boyfriend there, but he's also wearing a ridiculous shirt that has Harry's name stitched in the small corner of his chest. It's kind of endearing and such a Louis thing for him to do. Harry raises his eyebrow at the shirt before he's looking up at Louis, slightly confused. 

"You look like my biggest fan."

Louis smiles, bashfully, and steps forward. "Well, I am, for the record. I had this shirt made the other day actually."

"You're a little late though, don't you think?" Harry purses his lips and turns slightly so he can distract himself with one of his photos, trying his best to hold the tears inside of him instead of letting them break free now that Louis is here. 

"I'm not late," Louis admits, smiling as he walks around Harry to stand in front of him, reaching to place his finger under Harry's chin so he can tilt his head up. Louis smiles when they are back to looking in each other's eye. "I saw everything. You really think I would miss a night like this?" 

Harry shrugs. "I didn't see you. I looked."

"Not very well," Louis teases, scrunching his nose when he grins. "I was hidden in the back watching everything. I wasn't entirely sure how you would react to me being here so I figured I would play it safe by not surprising you in the middle of your showing. You did lovely."

Harry closes his eyes and sighs. "Thank you," he whispered, opening his eyes back up and slowly stepping out of Louis' hold. 

"So," Louis then says, and Harry knows exactly where this is leading to. "Do you think you're ready now? Because I really have a lot I need to say to you, and I know this is a big night for you, but I have so much I need to talk to you about."

Harry bites his lip, contemplating for a moment, but when he sees the desperate look on Louis' face, Harry knows it's time for him to get over his stubbornness and cave into having a conversation. "Yeah, we can talk," Harry agrees, tilting his head towards the back. 

Harry leads the two of them away from everyone inside the gallery and takes him out back where there is a patio. It's lit up by fairy lights hanging along the fence bordering the patio and a tabled fire place set in the middle of the sitting area. Harry goes to take a seat on the couch, and Louis sits on the spot next to him. Harry remains motionless in his seat and begins staring out at the fire while he anticipates what Louis is going to say next, not entirely sure how this conversation is about to go, but when Louis lets out a deep breath, Harry is finally glancing up at him. 

"Harry, I know I've been a complete twat about everything, especially the other night at the club, and I'm so fucking sorry I ever let myself get like that. I hate that I made you feel that way, and that I _keep_ making you feel that way. I'm just - I don't even know what comes over me sometimes, and it's like I have no control over what I say or do when I'm around you. I know it's not an excuse for anything, but I - I feel so crazy in my mind sometimes, and it's like these new wave of emotions just consume me, and I have no way to stop any of it from surfacing. I don't know how to explain it Harry, but just know that I'm really sorry."

Harry sighs, glancing at the fire again. "Louis, it's not _just_ about that," he says, braving himself to look into Louis' blue eyes again. "You knew what Tanner did to me. I told you about it and how much it affected my life, and you used that against me. Do you know how horrible that made me feel?"

"Harry, I - "

"I told you I wasn't ready yet, and that bothered you," Harry interrupts, not letting Louis finish his sentence. "I understand that you get carried away when we kiss, but what I don't understand is why you kept pressuring me or why you kept making me feel so naive when I wouldn't give in. You got pissed off at Tanner for touching me when I didn't want him to when you were doing the same thing to me all night. I get that I'm your boyfriend, but I don't need you to try and make claim on my body. It's mine. This is my body, and if I say I'm not ready to have sex or ready to be touchy in public, then I expect you, my boyfriend, to respect that, but you haven't been. It's like everything with you is sex, horny, sex, horny, sex, and I don't get why all of a sudden you've been like this. I just - I - " Harry pauses to let out a heavy breath. "I don't want to be with you if this thing between us is all about sex. I don't our relationship to be like all the ones you've had before."

Louis sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. "Harry, I swear to you, it's more than just sex between us, okay? I swear that's not why I want to be with you. I respect that you do not want to - "

"Louis, the problem isn't that I don't want to have sex," Harry cuts in. "If I'm being honest, _I want to_ with you, but I can't because I don't know where your feelings are at. I can't let myself have sex with you if that's all you want out of me. I'm more than that." 

Louis huffs and desperately reaches out for Harry's hands, bringing both of them up to his chest. "Harry, that's not it. It's not just about sex with me, I promise you this. I'm telling you that I have all these feelings inside of me that I've never felt before, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to contain or express them. You make me feel things that I never knew I could feel, and it drives me crazy sometimes. I know I've been pushy, but I've only been that way because I need _some way_ to express how much I care about you. I like you, okay? I like you so fucking much, and sometimes I do stupid things because all I can think about is finding ways to show you how much I love you. Because I do, Harry. I love you. I'm so fucking in love with you that I'm going to fuck up, and I'm going to be an idiot at times because I don't know what else to do with myself. I've just been scared to tell you."

Harry parts his mouth and lets out a small breath, eyes wide as he stares back at Louis. "You love me?" He questions, mainly focusing on that bit of Louis' spiel, feeling his heart nearly burst out of his chest with how amazing it is to hear those three words finally being said to him. It's like all is right in the world, and Harry is so damn happy he could cry. Louis loves him. He just admitted that he loves Harry. 

"I do love you, Harry, so fucking much."

Harry shakes his head, eyes glossing up in tears. "Why were you scared to tell me?"

"Because Harry, I've never loved someone before," Louis admits shyly, squeezing Harry's hand, now scooting closer so their legs can be touching. "I know my relationship with Eleanor bothers you. I see it. I know you're scared of our relationship being like that one, but I'm telling you that it's not going to happen. It's different because I have fallen in love with you, and I've done things with you that I've never done with any of my past relationships. I opened up to you. I trusted you with some of the most personal things in my life, and you were able to still be with me despite that. My anger issues have been a big factor in why I never wanted a relationship, but when you were able to look past it and help me through it, I knew you were the one for me. Harry, you're the only person in my life who can bring me back to myself, and you're not scared to do it. You're the love of my life, Harry, and it's all these feelings that I have for you that's been driving me crazy _for months_ , but shit Harry, I love you. I love you so fucking much, and you're so fucking attractive to me, and I'm sorry that I can't control my ... dick when I'm around you. I'm just in love with you, that's why." 

Harry has tears pouring down his face as he laughs, spreading his lips in a wide smile while leaning forward to press his lips to Louis'. "Oh, Louis," He whispers, kissing Louis' again and again and again because Louis loves him, like actually loves him, and Harry's never been this happy before, and his heart is so full of love and warmth and happiness, and he's not even the least bit embarrassed that he's crying and laughing because Louis _loves_ him. 

"I love you, too, Louis Tomlinson," Harry finally says, giggling when Louis kisses his nose. Harry sighs and leans his forehead against Louis', looking deeply into his eyes as he says, "Now, lemme get a picture of you in that shirt."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 474 likes**

**HarryStyles:** Harry merch, created by Louis (; #IdiotsInLove

**NiallHoran commented:** I want one 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** all sold out bud haha 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot of authors on here have a formal schedule to how they upload things, but as you can see, I am not like that lol. I literally post sporadically, if not, almost every day. I hope that is okay with every one. I also know sometimes it's weird posting back to back to back and some readers don't know if they should comment on each chapter, but just for the record, I love reading the comments (: I don't mind if you comment on every chapter I post or comment multiple times on one chapter or not comment at all. Just know that any feedback for me is great feedback (:


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for the record ... this is the **BIG** chapter (; . It took a while to get here, but oh well. I like to leave them waiting hehe. Enjoy x
> 
> Also, don't judge my smut. I really hate writing it but I try LMFAOLOL.
> 
> **PS: This chapter is kind long**

There are warm arms encompassing Harry when he feels himself start to wake up. It causes a bright smile to spread across his face before he's snuggling deeper into the chest that's resting up against his back. The arms end up tightening around Harry's body until wet lips are pressing underneath his ear, and Harry lets out a sigh when the feeling of Louis' touch sends such a happy jolt throughout his body. Harry closes his eyes again and cuddles in more, squeezing Louis' hands that are resting over his belly. 

"Are you awake?" Harry whispers, biting his lips when Louis presses another kiss to his kiss. 

Louis hums. "Possibly."

"Good." Harry opens his eyes and slowly turns his body around so he and Louis can lay face to face. Once Harry gets into his desired position, his smile widens, and he goes to cup both sides of Louis' jawline. "Do you remember what today is?" He questions cheekily. 

Louis lifts an eyebrow and contemplates. "I'm not sure," he mumbles, teasingly, trying his best to not smile, but the goofy look on Harry's face is making it really hard for him not to. "I don't remember putting anything on my schedule today."

Harry rolls his eyes and giggles, playfully slapping Louis' chest. "You're a dork. Maybe I should go find someone else to celebrate my anniversary you."

" _Your_ anniversary?" Louis scoffs playfully, now rolling over on the mattress and pinning his body on top of Harry's, easily slotting himself in between Harry's legs and trapping him to the bed. "Last time I check, it's _our_ anniversary - which means, this day is equally about me as it is about you."

Harry grins so fucking wide his dimples are nearly craters in his cheek. "I disagree," he teases, arching his head up, preparing for a kiss. "But since I love you - "

"I love you," Louis interrupts on instinct, closing the gap between their lips and sealing his worlds with a chaste kiss. "Happy Anniversary, baby."

"Happy Anniversary, Lou." 

Louis leans back in to prepare for another kiss, but the two of them quickly separate when they hear a loud crashing sound coming from outside the bedroom door. Louis nearly jumps off Harry's body as he rolls back to his side of the mattress. They both bring the covers up to their chest and anxiously look at one another, but just as they decide to get up to check what the noise is, the bedroom door is abruptly being pushed opened. Harry yelps when Niall, Liam and Zayn come bounding into the room loudly and baring what looks to be gifts. Liam has a tray of food for a bedside breakfast, Niall is holding up decorative balloons, and Zayn is holding a black box in his hands, and they come walking into the bedroom with each of their items and stop at the foot of the bed to stare at Harry and Louis, all three of them with gleaming eyes and bright smiles. 

Louis coughs. "What is going on?" He questions wearily. 

"It's your anniversary," Liam announces, like Louis and Harry aren't highly aware of that. He walks from the foot of the bed and hands Harry the tray of food, smiling brightly when Harry grabs the tray with a raised eyebrow, 

"I'm aware," Louis responds slowly, eyeballing the plate of pancakes that Harry begins forking at before he's looking over at the three boys, now hardening his eyes and trying to give off what he wants by scrunching up his face. "Shouldn't you three be busy with _something else_?" He tries to not make it obvious with what he is implying, but Harry quickly turns his head in Louis' direction at the sudden suspicious tone he hears. 

Before Harry has a chance to question anything, Niall is rushing to his side and handing him the balloons. "Here are some balloons for your anniversary."

"Look," Harry laughs, not knowing what to do with his lap full of food and his hand tied with balloons. "I appreciate all this, really, but why are you celebrating our anniversary with us? It's kind of a thing that only the two parties in the relationship celebrate. I don't think friends are included in one year anniversaries."

"The breakfast looks good though," Louis quickly adds in as he reaches over to grab a pancake with his hand. Harry scrunches up his face and playfully smacks Louis for his poor manners.

"We wanted to do something nice for you guys," Zayn responds, walking over to Louis' nightstand and placing down the black box he's holding. "Plus, this is both of your guy's first anniversary so we wanted to celebrate. We had to watch you two bitch and whine about each other for the past couple of months so this is a celebration for us as well."

"I think it's time you should be going," Louis mutters under his breath, trying to drown the words out by stuffing his face with food. Harry still hears him though and ends up elbowing him in the rib. 

Zayn raises his eyebrows and holds his hands up. "Alright, alright. We're going. Enjoy your day."

"Hope the food is good," Niall calls on his way out. 

"Save the box for later," Liam adds in, glancing over at Harry and winking. 

Harry's eyes widen. "What?"

Louis shrugs his shoulders and goes back to eating his food while the three boys finally exit their flat. Once they are alone, they spend the next few hours eating the breakfast that Liam brought and then getting ready for the rest of the day. They planned the anniversary out to where Louis has the night festivities while Harry takes the day portion so whatever they are planning to do until about the evening time is everything Harry had thought of. It's all supposed to be a surprise so Louis is quite excited to see what Harry wants them to do today, but he's even more excited to see how Harry will react to his gift later in the night. After they have eaten and gotten dressed, the two of them head out the flat so Harry can get started on what he has planned for their day date. 

"So, where are we going?" Louis questions as he gets in the passenger seat of the car. 

"Hyde Park," Harry gleams, glancing at Louis and winking before he starts the drive there.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**♥ 738 likes**

**HarryStyles:** I pinky-thumb promise I love you xx 

**LouisTomlinson commented:** love u more bby x

**NiallHoran commented:** What the hell is a pinky thumb promise??

**HarryStyles replied:** It's the best I could do ): I had to take the pic with my other arm don't be mean to me. Be kind. 

//

Harry and Louis pull up to Hyde Park shortly after leaving the flat, and it is completely packed with so many people that they sort of find trouble parking. There is apparently a flea market going on today at the park which explains why there are so many people there, and Harry really wanted to attend to see how fun one can be. Hyde Park has a lot of vendors all over the place selling different man made products, various food trucks, and really fun activities like ring toss games, balloon darts, bobbing for apples, and Harry really thought it would be a fun thing for him and Louis to do for part of their anniversary. Plus, it's a nice day out, and the area is really convivial, and they never get to do anything like this so it's nice for a change that the two of them can act properly like a couple in public. The people around are friendly with one another, casually talking and trying to sell items to one another. There's a live band playing out by the bridge with some children dancing around to the music, and off to the side there are a couple of groups that have formed to have a friendly game of footie out in the open grass. Harry is awed as he reaches for Louis' hand to skip them over to absolutely everything, smiling widely when he sees how full and green the park is looking today. 

"This is our love place," Harry admits breathlessly once he stops by the bridge, pulling Louis off to the side so the band isn't right in their ears. 

Louis lifts an eyebrow. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that this park has played a big role in our relationship," Harry explains, nibbling on his bottom lip when his wide grin starts to stretch his lips. Harry leans up against the post of the bridge and pulls Louis closer to his body before he's wrapping his arms around Louis' neck. Of course, Louis' arms instinctively go around Harry's waist. "It's one of the places where I fell in love with you at."

Louis hums, blushing a little. " _One_ of the places?" He wonders. 

"There's a few more that got me to stick with you," Harry winks. 

"Care to tell me the others?"

Harry sighs and sways their bodies a little, fingers curling into Louis' hair before he starts idly scratching the back of his head. "Well, the stadium is the other for sure. These are the two places where I got to know you better and see the real you." Harry smiles and kisses Louis' nose. "I would say your flat as well, but ... definitely the park and the stadium."

"I don't think I could actually pick a place if I'm being honest," Louis admits truthfully. "I think I just fell in love with you everywhere we were. It's not that hard to do so when you're so beautiful, and amazing, and goofy, and lovable."

Harry blushes at the compliments and tries to shy away, detangling himself from Louis' hold and beginning to walk them away from the bridge. "You don't have to woo me Mr. Tomlinson," Harry teases, sideways glancing at Louis. "I'm already yours. Have been for the last year, remember?"

Louis rolls his eyes and stops walking so he can kiss Harry silly. "You're right, baby cakes. Let's go find a game to play."

"Ooh, so you can win me a prize?"

"Duh!" Louis laughs. 

Harry goes back to guiding the two of them through the park until they get to an area where a bunch of games and activity booths are set up. Louis quickly seeks out the ring toss game and claims thats this is the game he can win something in. He ends up tossing all the rings around the bottles on his first try, and he gets to choose whichever prize he wants since he did so well on the game. Louis eyeballs all the prizes for a couple of seconds until he's falling upon the Mario and Princess Peach stuffed dolls hanging side by side. Louis hums thoughtfully and looks at the worker, pointing up at his desired prizes. 

"If I play this again and win, can I get Mario and Princess Peach together?"

Harry raises his eyebrow, stepping up next to him. "What're you doing?"

"Shh," Louis quiets him, tilting his head towards the dolls before looking at the worker for an appropriate answer. 

" _Uh -_ sure, mate."

So, Louis wins, and he gets both prizes. 

"Here you go, Princess," Louis cheers as he walks away, handing Harry Princess Peach while he tucks Mario underneath his arm. Harry stops walking when he gets the stuffed doll and glances at it before he's groaning and looking up at Louis', pouting. 

"Princess Peach, really?"

Louis nods right away, obnoxiously pressing a kiss to Harry's temple. "Yes, princess for my princess."

Harry rolls his eyes and continues walking through all the booths with Louis. "You got to stop calling me that," he whines, still smiling, even seeking out Louis' hand so they can be in contact somehow as they weave their way through people. 

"I'll stop calling you that when you stop being my princess - which won't happen - so I'll never stop."

Harry groans again, but he doesn't comment any further. Instead, he walks proudly through the park with his hand in Louis' and his Princess Peach tucked under his free arm. He sees that Louis is doing the same with the Mario doll that he won, and although Harry pretends he doesn't like being called a Princess, he does like that Louis got them complimentary prizes. It's a nice concept, Harry being the Princess Peach to Louis' Mario. It's sweet and romantic, and Harry's more than happy that he brought the two of them out to the flea market today. They get to hear live music and try a couple samples of food that people are handing out. They play some more games and even check out some of the hand made products that people are selling. It is nice and relaxing to be a couple out in the open without any worries of eyes on them, and there is no one around even bothering to pay attention to them. For once, Harry doesn't feel like he has people constantly watching their next move or have to worry about people invading their privacy. It seems like everyone around is more focused on enjoying all the activities at the park rather than Harry and Louis enjoying their day out, and Harry is more than thankful that is what is happening while being there. 

Before Harry and Louis started to head out, considering Louis needs proper enough time to make sure his portion of their anniversary date is ready, Harry catches sight of an older man selling hand woven bracelets. Harry quickly yanks Louis over to his booth and looks at all the bracelets that the man has made until he finds a stack of rainbow ones that easily peak his interest. Harry awes as he grabs two of them, holding them up in front of his and Louis' face so they can admire it together. Well, mainly Harry is admiring it while Louis admits Harry. 

"Look at these," Harry whispers, smiling so widely as he traces the rainbow pattern delicately with his finger. 

"Do you want them?" Louis asks, already pulling his wallet out. 

Harry's green eyes flicker over to him. "Maybe," he winces, smiling weakly. 

"We'll get two." 

Louis pays for both the bracelets and pulls Harry off to the side so they can be out of the way while they put the bracelets on each other. Once Harry has his rainbow pattern proudly around his wrist, he holds his arm up in the air for him so he can the bracelet with his eyes. "I love it, Lou." Harry sighs and drops his arm back to his side. "You know, I'm the one that's supposed to paying for everything right now. It's my date to you. You get the evening time."

Louis shrugs his shoulders as he wrap an arm around Harry's waist, guiding them back towards the car. "I don't care, H. I wanted to do these things for you, you know that." 

"Well, thank you," Harry blushes, cuddling into Louis side as they walk. "I love you, by the way." 

Louis giggles. "I love you, too. Now, it's my turn to take you on a date."

"Oh, can't wait." 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**LouisTomlinson:** Oh Shit ... I love you. 

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 **HarryStyles commented:** The oh shit moment we had together xxx . (;

**LouisTomlinson replied:** i luv our oh shit moments ;)

//

Louis and Harry briefly go back to the flat to freshen up before Louis is whisking Harry away in the car. Louis gives no hint or any indications to where he plans on taking Harry so when they go a good portion of the drive in silence, and Harry realizes Louis is driving him away from the city, he turns in his seat and looks at Louis, thoughtfully, curiously ... nosey, finally fessing up with questions. 

"Where are we going?"

Louis smiles. "It can't be a surprise if I tell you."

Harry really has no idea where Louis could be taking them at all. Harry's never been good at guessing any surprises that Louis has planned for him, so Harry's guess right now is as good as any. Harry deflates a little when he realizes that nothing will give away to where Louis is taking him so he slouches back into the seat and opts to look out the window so he can enjoy the buildings that pass by his line of sight. Louis' grin widens as he briefly glances at Harry a couple of times, trying his best not to giggle when he sees the infamous pout on Harry's lips and decides to amend his boy a little bit by reaching across the console to grab at Harry's hand. Harry brightens up a little when his fingers easily tangle with Louis', and he keeps their conjoined hands tucked in his lap now with a smile on his face, not so bothered any more that he's clueless on the date that Louis has planned for the evening. 

It takes all of Louis turning down an all too familiar dirt road when Harry's interest peaks again. He straightens up in his seat and looks ahead out the front window to see a pay window coming in to view. Louis doesn't even stop to talk to whoever is working. Louis ends up driving right on through and turning towards the area with a big screen set, and that's when Harry is able to put all the pieces together and realize that Louis had brought the two of them to the drive in, just like he did for their first date one year ago today. Harry's eyes are wide as he watches Louis pull into an open spot, and he sees that the entire place is empty besides a familiar pick up truck that Louis ends up parking in front of. Harry notices that the pick up truck is the old vehicle he used to drive around in, and the same one that he and Louis had shared their first kiss in. Harry really tries not to get emotional, for gods sake, all they did was drive up to the area, but the thought of Louis recreating their first date on their first anniversary makes Harry feel so loved and happy that he really thinks he might cry. He doesn't even know what more Louis has planned, but the fact that the two of them are at the place that started their relationship is what makes Harry's heart feel like it's going to burst from his chest. 

"Louis," Harry finally manages to say, still in shock, turning to glance at Louis with glossy eyes. "What are we doing here?"

Louis' grin widens even more than Harry thought possible. "It's my surprise. Come on."

Harry laughs breathlessly and slowly makes his way out the car. He kind of remains frozen once he is on his feet and admires the entire area and realizes that Louis had also managed to decorate the place. There are wooden posts surrounding the truck with fairy lights strung to each one of them, dangling in the air above where the truck is set up. When Louis walks over to grab Harry's hand so he can pull him closer to the set up, Harry sees that the back of the pick up truck is stocked with a bunch of blankets and pillows, and leading up to the vehicle, there is a path of flower petals on the ground. There are some fake candles placed around as well, mainly circling where the pick up truck is parked, and as Louis manages to get Harry right where he wants, which is right at the bed of the truck, the lights to the drive in turn off, and the screen turns on with a message saying _Happy Anniversary Harry._ This time, Harry lets a tear roll down his cheek, completely in awe that Louis had managed to do all of this without his knowledge. Harry is just so damn speechless right now that he can't even function or think properly. 

"H-How did you do all this?" Harry finally questions once he can breathe again, turning to look at Louis with bright green eyes and a dimply smile. 

"Well, I bought out the whole place," Louis admits, smirking. "Double paid some workers to play a certain movie for us, and I might have bribed the lads to get this set up while you took me on our date."

Harry shakes his head, laughing, still amazed. "I love it, Lou. This is great. I can't believe you managed to do all this." 

"There's more." Louis quickly rushes to the driver's side of the pick up and opens it up so he can lean inside the vehicle. Harry waits off to the side where he's standing around the bed of the truck until Louis is pulling away with a basket in his hands. Harry eyes widen when Louis walks forward to show off the basket, setting it on the truck and pulling out whats inside. "It's dinner."

There is a bouquet of flowers inside the basket along with a bottle of wine and two plastic cups. There are some sandwiches that are paired with fruit and chips, and for their desert, there is a boxed pie at the bottom. Harry laughs as he pulls one of the bagged sandwiches out, shaking his head when he sees a sloppy heart drawn on it. 

"I can't exactly cook," Louis admits, shrugging his shoulders. "So I thought a picnic dinner would work just fine with our movie date." Louis pulls the bouquet of flowers out next and hands it to Harry. "These are for you," he smiles, biting his lip when Harry immediately smells the petals. "There's also more candles in here." Louis digs in the basket again and pulls out tiny candles that he can place around the truck, flicking the switch on and showing it off to Harry happily. "Shall we get ready for the movie then?"

Harry smiles, blushing, heart beating rapidly in his chest. "Yeah, of course." Harry moves to pull himself up the bed of the truck with Louis' hands going to his hips to guide him up. He tucks himself up against the mountain of pillows and watches as Louis jumps up as well, soon moving in next to his side and wrapping an arm around his waist. "What movie did you pick for us?"

"The first movie is _The Notebook_ \- "

"I love you," Harry interrupts right away, grin so wide on his face that his dimples become prominently crated into his cheeks. 

"I love you, too, baby," Louis responds easily before continuing. "The next movie is _10 Things I hate About You -_ "

" _Oh, my gosh_ , I really love you," Harry repeats again, scooting closer to Louis and cupping the side of this chin, letting his thumb run over Louis' cheek before he's leaning in to give him a kiss. "All of this is amazing, Louis, really." 

Louis smiles, leaning in to rub his nose against Harry's. "I wanted to give you the best anniversary ever, and I had to take you to the spot where it all began - right here, where I had the best kiss of my life exactly one year ago today." Harry giggles and kisses Louis quickly. "You said you fell in love with me at the park and the stadium, but I want you to know that I fell in love with you to watching movies." 

"Really?" Harry scrunches his nose. 

"First time I ever felt it was the first night you came over to watch _The Notebook_ and _10 Things I Hate About You_. I realized, the next morning, that if I could sit through so many rom coms with you and not feel the least bit annoyed, or spend the entire movie just watching your reaction to everything - like how your eyes lit up when Allie and Noah kissed in the rain, or how big your smile was when Patrick serenaded Kat at the stadium - that this must be what love felt like, and it was something I wanted to keep close to my heart. I knew I wanted to be with you." 

Harry doesn't even pay attention to when the rolling credits of the movie begins, instead, he's way too focused on the way Louis' blue eyes glimmer underneath the fairy lights, and all he wants to do in that moment is kiss Louis forever. So he starts by leaning in again, gently pressing their foreheads together before molding his lips perfectly against Louis' own. The hand he has caressing Louis' cheek moves around Louis' neck, and he tangles his fingers into the back of Louis' head so he has something to hold on to as he pushes deeper into the kiss. Louis' hands instinctively trail over to Harry's hips and grips him tightly there when he tests the waters by wedging his tongue slowly into Harry's mouth. Harry whimpers when he gets the first taste of Louis, and he easily kisses around Louis' tongue as he starts to maneuver his body so he can rest comfortably on Louis' lap, having the perfect access to hold on to the back of Louis' head and grounding them to the bed of the truck with his knees caging in Louis' hips. 

When Harry manages to pull his head away for a second, finding time to let his lungs get air, he looks directly into Louis' eyes, whispering, "I love you," in the most sincere and earnest way. 

"I love you, too, Harry," Louis responds easily, fingers digging into Harry's hips as he presses another kiss to Harry's lips. "So fucking much," he adds.

Louis wraps his arms completely around Harry's back and pulls him in closer to his chest, having every inch of their bodies touching so there is no space between them. Louis can feel the way Harry is moaning deeply from the back of his throat as he dives in for more, can feel the way Harry's thighs clench around his own. He can also feel the way Harry's fingers curl into his fringe as he lightly pulls on it every time Louis manages to sneak his tongue into Harry's mouth. Every small reaction that comes from Harry goes straight into Louis' heart, being kept there so Louis can memorize every twitch and sound and movement Harry does whenever Louis does something to him. It makes butterflies erupt into Louis' belly every time he gets a response out of Harry, like every little thing that Louis does to Harry greatly affects him. Harry keeps curving deeper into Louis' body like he can't get close enough, and he's kissing back eagerly like he's desperate for more kisses. Harry tangles his tongue with Louis' so their taste can mix together, and he's breathing deeply out his nose like every time their lips touch is enough reason for him to breathe. Louis is so in love right now, and he's not so sure what he's supposed to do about it. 

Louis settles for moving them around on the truck, movie long forgotten as he slowly rolls Harry over on to his back. Louis keeps one arm settled low at the dip of Harry's spine and makes sure the blankets underneath him are comfortable enough for him to lay on. Once Louis gets Harry on his back, he wiggles his way in between Harry's legs and rest his body on top of Harry's. Harry smiles and reaches up to grip Louis' shirt so he can yank him down for another kiss, making sure to keep Louis in his place by leaving his hand on the shirt and trapping Louis there with the twist of his lips. It continues like this until Louis is moving from Harry's lips to the side of his face, pressing kisses all along Harry's jaw line before he's trailing down the side of his neck and sucking a mark into Harry's shoulder where his shirt had slipped off. Harry lets out a breath as he tilts his head back on the pillow, looking up at the fairy lights above him and arching his body further into Louis' as if that would make Louis suck any harder. Harry's hand ends up gripping Louis' shirt even tighter, and when he unconsciously bucks his hips up to relieve the friction he feels building up from the love bite Louis is giving him, he notices Louis is getting hard as well, both their growing bulges rubbing against each other an eliciting similar moans from Harry and Louis. 

Louis ends up being the first to pull away, not entirely sure where this kiss is supposed to go or lead to, but Louis knows how messy things get when he gets too involved so he wants to be more responsible by not being the one to push tonight. It's their anniversary, and the last thing Louis wants is to ruin things because he wants more than Harry is wanting to give - which, Louis understands and respects. Except, when Louis leans back, head hanging over Harry's, blue eyes looking down into green, Louis sees so much written all over Harry's face. Harry is looking up at him as if he hung the stars and the moon in the sky for him. Harry is looking up at him with the upmost care and love in the world that it makes Louis' heart beat just a little bit faster. With the way Harry is looking at Louis, it makes it seem like Harry is willing to give just as much as Louis is willing to receive, and right there in that moment, Louis doesn't think he can want Harry anymore than he does. 

Harry sighs and moves his hand to cup Louis' face. "Louis," he whispers, slightly hesitant. He gulps nervously and looks down at there bodies, letting out a shaky breath when he sees their groins flushed together. Harry blushes and looks back up, eyes sparkling. "I-I love you." There's a shaky breath following that shows Louis the nerves Harry's been trying to hide, and when Louis goes to make a comment on it, one of Harry's hands end up dropping down to his jeans, now stumping Louis completely. "I _uh -_ we - _um_." Harry bites his lip when he realizes he doesn't know what to say. 

"Harry," Louis responds quietly, carefully, gently grabbing on to Harry's wrist to prevent him from opening Louis' jeans. "Look, we really don't have to do anything. I'm fine with kissing and watching the movie. Please, don't think that I expect anything from you." 

Harry furrows his eyebrows together. "Louis, I want to, _now_."

"Harry, it's your first time," Louis reminds, voice slightly higher than normal, now moving his other hand flat on the blankets so he can hold himself up better. "I don't want the first time we have sex to be like this. We're in the back of the truck, outside, there's a movie playing, no music, and I'm pretty sure there is a worker over in that building over there. I really thought we would cuddle and watch the movies."

Harry smiles and arches up to kiss Louis' lips. "I say it's perfect, Lou. You set all of this up, and it's so romantic, and I love you. This is where we had out first kiss and where you asked me to be your boyfriend. It's the perfect place to make love." Harry kisses him again, other hand coming up to caress the side of Louis' jaw again. "And I like the fairy lights above us. I like everything you did for tonight, and I want it Louis. I want it with you."

Louis responds by kissing Harry again, pressing his lips deeper and gently laying him back on the blankets. Harry moves his arms around Louis' neck and returns his fingers into Louis' hair. Louis has an arm going around Harry's lower back and the other on his upper back, pulling him in closer so he can hold Harry tightly to his body while he kisses, kisses, and kisses Harry like it's the last thing he'll ever get to do. Louis puts all the passion that he can when he kisses so he can prove to Harry how much Harry means to him. Every gentle touch and careful caress of his hands are delicate where they lay on Harry's body. There are butterflies that are swirling inside of Louis' belly, and his heart is beating so rapidly in his chest that it feels it's just about close enough to jump out of his body. Harry whimpers when Louis gives more, Louis' lips constantly chasing his own, and Louis' tongue eagerly licking its way into Harry's mouth. Harry tugs on the back of Louis' head when Louis' hands start roaming around his body until they are reaching the ends of his shirt. Harry leans up off the blankets far enough so Louis can start unbuttoning the blouse he is wearing while Harry gets his fingers on the ends of Louis' shirt. They separate for a brief second so Harry can quickly shuck Louis' shirt over his head before his own shirt is completely hanging open and off his chest. Harry smiles and brings Louis back in for another kiss with his hand going to the back of Louis' head and slowly leaning back on the blanket so his body can be covered by Louis'. 

Louis kisses Harry a couple more times before he starts trailing his lips over Harry's cheeks and then going down his neck. Louis then wraps his lips around Harry's collar bone that gets exposed from his open blouse while Harry's hands seek out Louis' jeans again. Louis continues to suck a mark into Harry's warm skin as Harry starts popping the button on Louis' jeans, getting slightly confident by running his hands inside of his jeans and pressing his palms against the waistband of his briefs. Louis smiles against Harry's skin and quickly presses a kiss to Harry's lips before he's pulling back a little, breathing heavily as he glances down to admire the work they have already done, eyes running down Harry's bare chest, fingers idly running along the muscle on Harry's stomach. 

"You're so beautiful," Louis whispers, dipping lower and pressing a kiss to Harry's sternum. "Gorgeous," he continues, kissing all over Harry's chest as his hands go to Harry's pants now, opening them up slowly and eyeballing Harry to make sure that it's okay to do. Harry nods his head subtly and lets out a heavy breath when Louis goes back to kissing his body and getting the button on his jeans popped so they can eventually pull them off. Louis trails his lips back up Harry's chest until their lips are tangling together again while they both simultaneously yank their bottoms off their legs, now only being left in the briefs, bodies pressed together, lights shining above them, movie playing in the background, a breeze blowing in the air, their legs tangling together, and two hearts beating as one.

Louis has to pull his head away when he feels his body getting overwhelmed with all the emotions that are flooding inside of him, and he needs to take a moment to just breathe and look at Harry, but when Louis sees the brightness of Harry's eyes and the smile on his lips, Louis realizes that there has never been a moment in his life where anyone has ever looked at him the way Harry is looking at him now, and it makes his heart feel so full and warm and in love. Louis ends up letting out a shaky breath, one that is suddenly giving away his hesitance. 

"What's wrong?" Harry questions, tilting his head, concerned, running his knuckles down the side of Louis' cheek.

Louis lets out another breath. "Harry, I'm nervous," he admits, now genuinely looking terrified. 

"For what?"

"I'm nervous to have sex with you," Louis explains with a self-deprecating laugh, shaking his head and briefly glancing above him. "I love you, Harry. I love you a lot, and I want to make sure everything is good for you. I mean _shit_ , I was so desperate to do things right with you that I watched so many videos on how to make our first time together perfect. That's how nervously I've truly been." 

Harry raises his eyebrow, slumping back against the blankets. "Videos?" he wonders, slightly hesitant, not entirely sure where this conversation is about to lead to, but he does have an idea. The videos are in reference to the porn on _MenHub_ that Harry has once caught on Louis' laptop, and he feels so much relief at knowing those videos were meant to help Louis prepare for his first time with Harry. It's oddly romantic, and now Harry knows his boyfriend wasn't some porn watcher. That's a nice thought going in to sex. 

"I'm just really nervous, Harry, genuinely," Louis continues, letting out a heavy breath. "You just - _fuck_ \- the way you look at me sometimes Harry makes me so nervous. I've never had anyone look at me the way that you do, and it scares me because it makes me feel so many things. You make my heart race, Harry - " Louis grabs Harry's hand and places it on his chest - " Every time I catch you looking at me, it jumps. Every time I'm around you, it beats so crazily. I just - I love you so much, Harry Edward Styles."

Harry smiles like a fool as he curls his fingers into the fabric of Louis' shirt. "Then show me, Louis William Tomlinson. Show me how much you love me."

Louis responds by leaning in for another kiss, grounding Harry to his spot by the press of his lips and the grip of his hands. A breathy sigh comes from Harry once he's finally back to kissing Louis, and Louis starts moving his hands all over Harry's waist until he's pressing one palm to Harry's back and using the other one to slowly slide off Harry's blouse. Although Harry tries to focus on kissing Louis, he's still getting hit with the sudden reminder that he's about to be fully naked for the first time in front of his boyfriend, and the thought starts to slightly terrify him. Louis can feel when Harry's body tenses up from his blouse being removed off his chest, and when Louis starts to reach for his briefs, Louis pulls his head away so he can look into Harry's eyes. 

"Relax, love," He urges, kissing Harry's nose and slowly feeling every tense muscle in Harry's body start to loosen just a little bit. Louis smiles reassuringly and begins removing Harry's boxers so he can lie on the blankets completely bare, and before Harry has the chance to actually shy away, Louis is pressing his hands and his lips on every part of Harry's body with the upmost care and attention that he can give. "Fuck, Harry, you're so pretty." Louis kisses Harry's pec. "So beautiful." Louis kisses Harry's belly. "So perfect for me." Then he presses a kiss to the fainted scar on Harry's hip, and Harry finally feels himself completely going pliant under Louis' care. 

Harry lets out a breath when Louis continues to kiss all over his body, being so gentle and soft that it's making Harry nearly whine for more. It's when Louis' hands start sneaking to the inside of Harry's legs to get him to spread open when Louis suddenly pulls back, slightly frazzled and frustrated. "Shit, Harry. I don't have anything," Louis quickly informs, leaning up and urgently looking all over the blankets to see if anything is there. "We-we can't do anything if I don't have what I need."

"Oh," Harry mumles, leaning up on his elbows. He manages to pat around on the covers until his hands come back in contact with his jeans, and then he's pulling them over to his side so he can start searching in the back pocket for something. Once Harry gets ahold of what he needs, he pulls out two packets and shows them off to Louis, wiggling his eyebrows and smiling widely. "It's a good thing I have what you need."

Louis raises his eyebrow, slightly shocked. "You have condoms and lube?"

"It was actually in the box Zayn brought this morning. I peaked in it while you were showering and decided to sneak it with me just incase."

Louis relaxes a little and leans back on Harry's body, laughing. "You're something else." Louis shakes his head and grabs both items from Harry's hands, setting them next to his body and going back to pressing kisses all over Harry's chest. 

Harry settles back into the blankets and looks up at the lights hanging above him while Louis moves further down his body. He can feel the push of Louis' shoulders that force his legs to open more to allow Louis to fit, and once Louis has his head right in between Harry's thighs, Louis grips on to Harry's legs and holds him in place. Harry's breath comes out shaky when there's a soft press of lips to the underside of his ass, and then there's a louder moan that comes out when he feels those lips getting closer and closer to his rim. Louis scoots his body towards Harry's so he has better access to get his head down where he wants, and he ends up putting Harry's legs over his shoulders so his hands are free to spread Harry's ass apart. Once Harry's beautiful hole is exposed, so pink and fluttering, clean and soft, Louis licks his lips before he's running his tongue along it, marveling in the way Harry's thighs immediately clench around his head. 

"S-shit, Louis," Harry whines, fingers curling into the blanket, not expecting the stubble on Louis' face to cause such a pleasurable burn in between his legs. Louis continues to lick all over Harry's hole before he decides to put some lube on his fingers. He knows Harry is a virgin and has never actually done any anal activities before so the stretch is probably going to be tight, and it's probably going to burn, so Louis wants to make sure he can get Harry as loosened up as he can make possible. So as Louis goes back to licking inside of Harry, he begins pressing his finger alongside his tongue to stretch Harry out both with his finger and tongue, now feeling Harry clench around both things before a loud moan belts out of him. 

Louis spends his time taking care of Harry and stretching him open. When he feels Harry relax more to his tongue and one finger, he slides in another one and completely pulls his tongue away so he can properly finger Harry open. He makes sure to spread the lube all around Harry's hole and get as much inside of him so everything can be smooth and wet for when Harry's ready for his cock. Louis starts scissoring the two fingers he has in Harry before he's adding another one, and once Harry is up to three fingers knuckle deep, he's bucking his hips up, arching his back, and begging for more. 

"Do you think you're ready, babe?" Louis questions, carefully watching every twitch to Harry's face to make sure that this feels good for him. Harry nods rapidly and blinks his green eyes down at Louis. Louis sighs and slowly pulls his fingers out as he begins kissing his way up Harry's body, feeling Harry shiver with each touch until Louis is pressing a lasting kiss to Harry's lips. "I don't want to hurt you," Louis whispers to him, swallowing nervously. 

Harry smiles and cups Louis' cheek. "I trust you."

Louis presses a couple more kisses to Harry's awaiting lips until he's pulling back to get his own briefs off. Louis gets himself completely naked as well and covers his cock with a condom and a fair amount of lube before he's adding even more to Harry's hole. He takes a second to look down at Harry and really process the fact that they are really about to have sex, and when he sees Harry's fluttering hole just anxiously clenching on to nothing and practically begging to be filled, Louis knows that he's about to give everything he's ever had to Harry, and he's going to do it perfectly. Louis leans his body back over Harry's and starts kissing him again as he idly grips himself to guide his way to the opening of Harry's ass. Louis already feels a moan threatening to come out of him when the head of his cock starts breaching Harry open, but at the small intrusion of entering Harry, he can start to feel Harry tensing up. Louis coaxes Harry to relax by running his hands over the curve of his waist and licking his way into Harry's mouth, urging him to slack against the blankets and loosen up so the slide can be easier. However, when Louis starts to push in a little bit more, Harry pulls away from the kiss with a small whine, breathing heavily up at the sky. 

"Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?" Louis quickly worries, ready to pull out, but Harry quickly shakes his head and grips Louis' arm. 

"No, No. It's just - I'm not used to it. I needed a moment." Harry swallows, looking back at Louis. "Keep going."

Harry tightens his hold on Louis' arm as Louis starts to push in some more. He does it slowly and carefully up until the point he has finally gone all the way, and his pelvis is flushed right up against Harry's ass. Harry lets out a breath when Louis is all the way, feeling slight relief and a mixture of pleasure as he gets used to the feel of Louis' cock finally being inside of him. Harry has to lay there for a second and breathe his way to this new feeling of being split open, and Louis tries his best to comfort Harry by kissing all over his face and seeking out his hands so they can lace their fingers together and press them into the blankets. 

"I love you, Harry," Louis whispers against Harry's ear, feeling Harry's body starting to wiggle the longer he remains still. 

Louis finally starts moving slowly, testing it out by drawing his hips back a little bit before he's pushing back in. Harry arches off the blankets at the first thrust Louis gives, and he lifts his legs up so he can wrap them around Louis' waist to keep them impossibly closer. Louis draws his hips back again, getting in a smooth rhythm of pumping in and out of Harry at a slow, steady pattern. 

"You can go faster," Harry nearly begs, tilting his head back and looking up again, biting his lip when Louis' movements quicken just a little. 

Harry moans when Louis gets faster, starting to move his hips a little harder by rolling them into Harry's body. Louis removes his hands from Harry's and places one around Harry's cock while the other one remains on the bed of the truck to keep him upright. Harry's sounds get higher and more frequent when Louis starts pumping Harry's cock in rhythm to every thrust, causing Harry's legs to fall from Louis' waist so he can curl his toes into the blanket and have better leverage of pushing his hips up into the touch. Louis kisses Harry as he gets quicker and faster, edging Harry on with all the gentle touches and the soft words being whispered against his ear. Louis tries to go impossibly deeper and attempts to fuck Harry right in his spot by gripping Harry's hips and slightly lifting him closer to his body, and when Harry's in this new angle for Louis' cock to constantly nudge up against his spot, he lets out a high pitched cry before he's spilling all over his chest. Louis smiles as he kisses Harry through it, pressing his lips all over Harry's neck and sucking a mark into Harry's shoulder as he follows Harry by releasing into the condom. Louis thrusts his hips a couple more times to ride out the rest of his orgasm until he's still and laying flat on top of Harry, sighing when Harry wraps both his arms and legs around his body so they can both come down together. 

They lay like this for a couple of minutes until Louis feels ready to pull himself out. He does so slowly and rolls over to the space next to Harry, keeping one arm wrapped around Harry's body so they can remain close together. Once they are laying side by side, facing one another, Harry blinks up at Louis and smiles, shyly, soon ducking his head in between their bodies and hugging Louis to him. 

"How was it?" Louis questions, whispering now that the sounds of them making love is no longer being heard, and the only thing right now they can hear is their heavy breathing and the movie still being played up on the screen. Louis smiles and glances up to see how far in the movie they are, and he realizes that it's nearly over and the second one should be coming on soon. 

"It was perfect," Harry responds quietly his finger coming out to trace Louis' pec. Harry smiles and looks up at Louis. "I love you."

Louis leans down to kiss Harry's lips. "I love you, too." He presses a few more kisses afterwards before he's finally relaxing on the small bed of blankets he's made and pulling one of them over their bodies. "Now, lets watch the movie." 

Harry giggles and cozies himself up against Louis so they can continue to enjoy the rest of their drive in date. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥ 1,012,110 likes**

**LouisTomlinson:** Happy Anniversary to my love xx

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 **HarryStyles commented:** Happy Anniversary boo bear xx I love you

**LouisTomlinson replied:** love u more bby (: 

**AnneStyles:** Cute picture boys. 

//

It's really unfortunate that the next morning, after getting home late from the drive in, that they are both interrupted with loud noises coming from the living room ... again. Louis doesn't even have to worry or try to guess who he thinks is out there because he already knows it's their friends waiting to hear how their first anniversary went. Louis groans and gets up from the bed first, grabbing a pair of sweats he can find and covering himself up while Harry takes more time to actually get ready. He's quite sore. 

Louis walks out into the living space and sees Niall, Liam, and Zayn all sitting there, like Louis assumed, each with a bowl of his favorite cereal. Louis raises his eyebrow and walks over to the empty love seat. "What are you doing?"

"It's the day after your anniversary," Niall responds, showing off his spoon full of Coco Puffs before he's taking a big bite. 

Louis furrows his brows together. "Yeah, thank you for that." Louis gets up from the couch and walks into the kitchen to grab a bag of chips from the cabinet. He opens it up and goes back to his seat, already shoving a handful into his mouth. 

"So," Liam coughs, pointing at Louis with his spoon. "You seem pretty hungry."

Louis raises his eyebrows, glancing down at his hand that is filled with some more chips. It's like noon, and he hasn't eaten since last night, and all they had was a sandwich. It makes sense that he's hungry, but whatever. 

"You know, I also noticed that the black box wasn't in your room last night when we snuck into your place," Zayn admits.

"You snuck into my place?" Louis wonders. 

Niall shakes his head, plugging his ears. "What was in the black box? Actually, I don't even want to know."

Liam and Zayn start laughing while Louis shakes his head, refusing to give them _any_ details about last night. Their conversation is halted when the door to Louis' bedroom slowly creeps open, and Harry is emerging his way through the door shyly, a hesitant smile on his face as he sees who all is out in the living room. Harry gives a small wave to them and heads his way over to join Louis on the love seat, but he walks slowly and carefully when he feels a sharp soreness in his ass with each step he takes. Zayn and Liam seem to take notice of it right away and continue to giggle, but Harry really does try his best to not have an awkward waddle as he approaches Louis, but when he goes to actually join Louis in the seat, he winces when his ass sits on Louis' lap.

Louis frowns and rubs his hand up and down Harry's back. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine," Harry responds quietly, slightly blushing as he glances over at his friends, mainly Niall, who kind of looks oblivious to what is apparently obvious to Zayn and Liam. "I'm pretty hungry though."

"I'm sure you are," Zayn snickers under his breath. 

Louis rolls his eyes, and Niall is standing up from the couch. "Haz, I have to tell you something _great_." Niall walks over to Harry and quickly yanks him off Louis' lap, completely bypassing the groan that comes from Harry when the movement triggers his soreness. 

The two of them disappear in Louis' room, for whatever the reason is, and once they are finally hidden with a door, Zayn and Liam start laughing louder, not even trying to hide anything. 

"Would you two stop it?" Louis complains, grabbing the throw pillow he's leaning against and chucking it at the two giggling boys. 

"I'm sorry," Zayn laughs, completely not sorry. "It's just so obvious you two fucked last night. It's amazing."

Liam cackles. "Yeah, the love bites are bad on both of your necks."

"And Harry is waddling so badly," Zayn blurts out, falling to the side and laughing like it's the most hilarious thing in the world. "Oh my gosh, it's like he's had something shoved up his ass." Louis shakes his head. 

"Yeah, Louis' cock," Liam follows up with, giggling. "At least we know who topped last night."

Louis groans and goes to cover his face, now finding himself starting to laugh as well. He really hates his friends, and he can only hope that Harry's conversation with Niall is going a hell of a lot better than his conversation with Zayn and Liam. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**♥ 1,097 likes**

**HarryStyles:** My favorite man on my favorite day x Happy Anniversary Lou xx

**LouisTomlinson commented:** ur so cute. love u too xxx 

**NiallHoran commented:** Boooo stop posting pictures of you two kissing! BLEH!

**LouisTomlinson replied:** Hush up. i love his kisses (; 

//

The door closes shut, and Harry and Niall walk to the bed to sit side by side on the mattress. 

"I had sex with Louis last night," Harry blurts. 

"I'm finally going on a date with Ellie," Niall says at the same time, soon jolting his head in Harry's direction, completely shocked. "Wait ... what?"

Harry smiles weakly, and well, Harry only hopes that Louis' conversation with Liam and Zayn go a lot better than this one right now. 


	25. Chapter 25

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**♥ 887,859 likes**

**LouisTomlinson:** Late night (;

_View all 572,912 comments_

**NiallHoran commented:** I don't even want to know what you guys were doing ...

**LouisTomlinson replied:** (; 

**HarryStyles commented:** Should've cuddled me instead of taking pictures of me

**LouisTomlinson replied:** don't worry bby. I did give you cuddles

**GemmaStyles commented:** Just remember that I'm staying in the room right next to yours ...... 

//

Anne's house has gone _crazy_. There are people running up and down the steps, some shoving a bunch of stuff in the car. Others are anxiously packing their bags, and one is trying their best to not wrinkle _the_ dress. Robin is the only sane one right now. He's sitting on the living room couch with a soda in his hand, watching the latest footie match on the telly while everyone else in the household prepares to leave. See, the thing is, Anne and Robin's wedding is coming up, as in it's tomorrow, and instead of having a simple ceremony right down the road at the closest chapel, the Coxx family thought they would have a grand reunion at Anne's mother's house in Cheshire and invite the whole family to join in. Anne has a sister and a brother, and their mother hasn't had the family all together in a while so since she lives off the lake, she thought it would be best to have everyone come gather for Anne's wedding. That's why everyone in this current household is just about panicking to make sure everything is ready to go because once they're actually at Nan's house, there's no coming back if they forget anything. 

Harry is currently upstairs, in his old bedroom, trying to pull together the perfect outfit to wear for the wedding. He's stressing the most, of course he is. Picking the perfect outfit for his mother's perfect wedding is crucial for him, and since he's going to be taking photos the whole time, he's going to constantly be in view of everyone so Harry _has_ to look good. It really doesn't help that Louis is laying on Harry's old bed, tossing a balled up sock up in the air and making snarky comments every time Harry talks to himself about certain articles of clothing. It comes to the point where Harry grunts and tosses all the clothes he has piling on his legs off to the side before he's falling back on the ground, covering his face and dramatically whining. 

"Babe," Louis finally says, sitting up and tossing the sock ball over at Harry's belly. "You need to relax. All your clothes look good on you."

Harry uncovers his face and tilts his head to look at Louis. "I still need clothes, _Lewis_."

"Show me what you've got then." Louis gets up from the bed and walks over to where Harry is sprawled on the ground, raising his eyebrows when he sees all the clothes thrown every where. 

"It's supposed to be formal-casual," Harry informs. He sits up from the ground and scoots away from the mess so he can rest up against the side of the bed, watching Louis as he rummages through the clothes. "I don't even know what that means. Do I wear a button up tie with cargo shorts?"

Louis snorts, shaking his head. "It just means you don't need to be completely in a suit and tie. Just something cute, like what you wear to a date or something."

"Well, most of our dates now end with me being naked so ... "

Louis lets out a loud cackle and reaches over to playfully slap Harry's leg. "Cheeky little thing."

Louis goes back to looking through the clothes so he can help Harry relieve a little bit of stress in trying to find an outfit in his mess of clothes. Louis knows how much Harry has been worrying about his mother's wedding and being the photographer for the whole thing, and all Louis has been trying to do is keep him calm as calm as possible. The thing is though, Harry wants everything to be perfect for Anne. With how bad Anne and Des' relationship was, Harry wants everything to be with Robin as magical as he can make it. The wedding that Des and Anne had wasn't amazing, and their families didn't even get the chance to attend. If Harry remembers correctly, Anne had told him before that Des was adamant on eloping so they never had a big family gathering like they are having for Robin and Anne's wedding. It's all the reason _why_ Harry is stressing. This is the wedding that his mother deserves. 

It takes a while of Louis rummaging through Harry's things, but he eventually does find an outfit that he thinks Harry will look good in. It's simple black skinny jeans, Chelsea boots, and a florally blouse pairing that Louis admires on the boy, and it looks good enough to be seen at a wedding so it's good enough for Louis to give Harry to wear. So Louis grabs all those clothes and walks over to the bed to lay them out on the mattress for Harry to see. He then helps Harry up from the floor and shows off the outfit he picked out for him

"How did I miss this?" Harry frowns, picking up the blouse and rotating it in his hands. He remembers Louis buying him this a couple months ago. Louis thought it would look good on him, and Harry smiles at the reminder. 

"I don't know, babe, but finish packing. We should be leaving soon."

Harry sighs and sets the blouse back on the bed, deflating just a little bit. "The wedding is in Cheshire, you know?" he mumbles under his breath, looking down at the ground and nervously picking at the loose string on the comforter. Harry frowns and doesn't look up, trying not to let the fact that he's about to return to a town that has left horrible memories for him to think about. 

Louis steps forward and wraps an arm around Harry's waist, slowly pulling Harry into his side. "Hey," Louis whispers, hand reaching out to grip Harry's chin, tilting Harry's head in his direction, smiling. "Good memories now, yeah?"

"Yeah," Harry smiles. 

Harry leans in to give Louis a kiss on the lips before he's pulling back to let out a heavy breath. He knows they need to get on the road soon, Harry's nan is having a backyard barbecue today with all their family so he starts to pack up the rest of his bag with the outfit Louis picked out for the wedding. Louis is already packed and ready to go, and once Harry finally gets everything gathered, Anne is calling for everyone to put their stuff in the car. Louis and Harry follow Gemma and Chance down the stairs to head outside where Robin and Anne are already packing up the trunk with everything they need for the weekend. Louis, Harry, Gemma, and Chance add to the stack with their bags, and then all four of them are cramming into the vehicle. Harry and Louis crawl in the back row while Gemma and Chance get the middle row. Robin gets in the driver's seat and Anne goes to the passenger seat, and once everyone is buckled and the truck is completely packed, Robin starts driving off to Cheshire. 

It takes almost four hours to get to Cheshire from London so on the car ride Harry and Louis cozy up in their seats and pull out Louis' tablet so they can watch a movie. Anne ends up reading a book, and Gemma sleeps for most of the trip. Chance occupies his time by playing games on his phone, and before all of them know it, Robin is pulling up to Nan's house. Anne gets out the car first when she sees her brother Lance out in the front yard. She quickly gives him a hug and ends up dragging him over to Robin so they can start unpacking the car. Gemma and Chance get out together and immediately seek out one another so they can go inside, and Harry and Louis are quickly following behind with their hands held together. The four of them are walking towards the front door when it suddenly opens and out pops Claire. She has a bright smile on her face as she quickly makes eye contact with Harry, but when she notices that Louis is by his side, she rushes over to him and gives him the hug first. Harry laughs and lets Louis' hand go so Louis can properly hug her. 

"Louis, you're here," Claire cheers, so bright and happy, squeezing Louis tight in their hug. Claire pulls back from the hug and goes to Harry next. "Princess, Harry. I'm so happy you guys finally made it."

Gemma scoffs playfully and steps up next to Harry, placing her hands on her hips in a patronizing way. "Excuse me, Claire. Have you no mind to me being here?"

"Oh," Claire giggles, pulling away from Harry and giving Gemma a hug, finally. "Sorry, Gem Gem. I'm happy you're here, too."

Gemma rolls her eyes, laughing under her breath. "It's fine Claire Bear. I know Harry is your favorite."

"You are a close second though."

Gemma snorts as she pulls away from the hug and playfully runs her fingers through the top of Claire's head. After Gemma introduces Chance to Claire, she drags Chance inside the house so they can make their round of introductions with the rest of the family. Harry and Louis, on the other hand, stay at the door with Claire, and now that Harry isn't so preoccupied with greeting Claire anymore, he can now finally get a good look at her. It had been seven months since the last time he saw her, and now that she's right there in front of him, he can see how much _worse_ she had gotten during these months apart. Last time they were together, Claire did look sick, but she still looked more lively than she does currently. Now, her skin is impossibly paler, and her body is so frail and fragile that Harry can practically see her bones if not for the skin covering it. And even though Claire does have hair on her head, it's much shorter than the last time Harry saw her. If anything, it's thinner, and she barely has enough to pull it into a small bun. Claire's hair looks like it's been taking some time to grow back as if it's been cut off, and something about seeing Claire like this does worry Harry a lot. He really thought she was getting better since the last time they saw each other, but it seems like her thyroid issues have been taking a horrible toll on her body, and it's very unsettling for Harry because the thought of anything worse happening to her nearly makes him nauseas. 

Harry tries not to get too discouraged though. He can even feel Louis squeezing his hand because he must know how much Harry is concerned about Claire's appearance, but Claire quickly grabs both of their hands and leads them inside the house which distracts Harry enough to where he's not blatantly staring at her. Harry can see that the majority of their family is already at his Nan's house, and it seems like everyone was waiting on their arrival to get the actual barbecue started. Harry watches through the window above the kitchen sink of everyone in the back yard greeting Anne and Robin, already congratulating them on their upcoming wedding. He also watches Gemma dragging Chance alongside her so he can meet all the family members. They get to Uncle Lance and Aunt Nola who are sitting at a picnic table with their three boys, and Harry smiles as he watches Uncle Lance already giving Chance a hard time about being Gemma's boyfriend. Harry continues to look around the backyard and sees that some of his mother's aunts and uncles are also there. Harry's Nan has two brothers and two sisters, a big family they got, and Harry's never really met or talked to them much so he knows his mother is eventually going to make him do rounds of greeting people as well. He's kind of hoping Claire will be a good enough cousin to distract him from doing that. 

"Louis, you have to meet everybody. They're going to love you," Claire eventually says, and instead of just staying in the kitchen to hide away from all the aunts and uncles like Harry is really wanting, Claire ends up dragging both the boys outside to the backyard. Harry has to hold in his groan because they haven't even been there for an hour, and Claire has already betrayed him. "You met my mom and dad, but over there - " she points to the picnic table - "Is Uncle Lance and Aunt Nola. They live somewhere in Wales. We don't get to see them much though."

"Nola is a nurse and Lance is a lawyer," Harry explains to Louis.

Louis raises his eyebrows. "Are they mean?"

Claire giggles, shaking her head. "No, Uncle Lance is so funny, but they have three boys. The oldest one -" She points to the boy who is walking over to Anne and giving her a hug - " His name is Landon. I think he is sixteen. The next one - " she points to the one who's getting their hair ruffled by Gemma - " He is Reid. He's like twelve, and the youngest, - " this time, she points to the one who is blowing bubbles into the sky - " He's Devin. He's nine." 

"You got a handful of cousins there, don't ya?" Louis smiles, glancing down at Claire. 

"I love seeing them. They are so fun to play with."

They are interrupted when a whistle gets blown, and all heads are turning towards the back lot where Harry's Nan is standing proudly. She has a clipboard tucked under her arm, the traitorous whistle hung around her neck. Something Harry definitely is not prepared for when coming to the family reunion today is a competition for all the cousins to participate in. Apparently, it was someone's idea, probably Nan's idea, to have all the children compete in partnered activities while all the aunts and uncles sit around and watch, drinking beer and snacking on food. Harry didn't realize this is what having a family reunion entailed, but as Nan blows her whistle again to get all the kids prepared for the first game, Harry grabs Louis' hand and forces them to be partners. If Harry has to endure the Coxx family games, then so does Louis. Gemma and Chance partner up, and then Claire and Devin go together since they're the closest in age, and lastly, Landon and Reid become pairs. All the groups go join Nan where she has a couple family members helping her set up the activity. The first game is a blindfolded race, but to add a twist to everything, the partner with the blindfold is also holding a spoon with an egg on it in their mouths. The goal is for the unblinded partner to vocally guide the blinded one across the finish line, which happens to be a strip of tape placed on the ground. After the rules are set, all the groups line up at the starting post and decide on who is going to take what position. 

"I'll be blinded. Hand me the spoon," Louis informs, reaching his hand out and expecting Harry to drop the blind fold, the spoon, and the egg in his palm. 

Harry raises his eyebrows. "What, why?" he pouts.

"Babe, you have two left feet. I don't want to lose because you can't properly walk on your bambi legs."

Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes as he hands everything over to Louis. "You're the worse."

Louis smirks and quickly leans over to give Harry a kiss before he's tying the blind fold over his eyes. Harry steps up and helps make sure that the fabric is tight enough around Louis' head so it doesn't fall over his nose, and once Louis is completely sight free, Harry places the spoon carefully between Louis' lips and makes sure Louis has a strong enough grip on it. Harry grabs an egg from the basket Nan is walking around with and goes to put it on the dip of the spoon in Louis' mouth, but as he takes a step forward, he trips and drops the egg on the ground, wincing when the egg cracks on Louis' shoe. 

"Oops," Harry smiles weakly, looking over right as Louis is lifting the bottom of the blindfold up and pulling the spoon out of his mouth. 

Louis shakes his head. "Yeah, and you wanted to be blindfold." Louis smiles and lets the blindfold go so he can no longer see, giggling under his breath when Harry starts grumbling childishly. 

Harry frowns at the comment and lightly nudges Louis, seeing him sway a bit before he's having to replant his feet on the ground. Harry laughs and places the spoon back in Louis' mouth, this time carefully placing the egg in the dip of the spoon and making sure he doesn't trip over air again. Once Louis is set with the spoon and the egg and the blindfold, Harry walks Louis to the starting post and positions him to face straight ahead where the finish tape is placed. Gemma and Chance soon join next to them as well with Chance guiding the blinded Gemma, and then the other groups are joining in as well with all the designated partners blind folded and the other partner walking out in front preparing to be the vocal instructor. 

"You better watch out, Harry," Chance teases as he gets into position, side eyeing Harry with a smirk. "Me and Gemma came to win today."

"Yeah, you're going down, little bro," Gemma growls, but her threat is sort of meaningless when she's turned the wrong way and speaking her words towards a tree trunk. Harry and Chance start laughing, and Chance has to turn Gemma around so she is properly facing the correct direction rather than an inanimate object. 

"I don't think I have much to worry about," Harry snickers under his breath, biting his lip and retracting his body when Gemma attempts to reach out and smack him. She misses, obviously. 

The game is soon starting with Nan standing at the finish line with a couple other relatives. When she blows the whistle, Harry starts guiding Louis with his voice, making sure that Louis doesn't run in to the other opponents or trip over his feet, but when Harry takes a second to see how the others are doing, he can see Claire and Devin are way in the lead. Instead of Harry trying to catch up, he remembers the snarky comment Louis made about his clumsy legs and decides to set Louis up for failure. So once the other opponents are slightly ahead of the two of them, Harry turns a little and begins guiding Louis off course. There's a small murmur in the crowd of relatives who are watching Harry talk Louis away from the finish line and straight towards a bush. Harry takes a small step off the side and continues to talk to Louis until Louis _does_ actually step a foot right into the heart of the bush, causing him to stumble forward and drop the spoon and the egg. 

"Harry!" Louis whines, yanking the blindfold off his face and rolling around in the leaves so he can look up at Harry, who is laughing. 

"I'm sorry, but you deserved that," Harry giggles. Despite the teasing, Harry does offer Louis a hand in his weak attempt at helping him up, but instead of Louis using it to stand, he ends up pulling Harry in the bush as well. "Louis," Harry screeches. 

Louis smiles and glances past Harry, seeing Claire and Devin pass the finish line with ease. "I don't think we were even close to winning, babe."

"Why do you think I sabotaged you?"

Louis rolls his eyes and finally struggles his way out of the bush, Harry following up as well and walking over to the finish line where all the other contestants have already crossed successfully. 

"And in last place," Nan announces, shaking her head with a smile. "Harry and Louis."

"Congrats, little bro," Gemma snickers to which Harry rolls his eyes to. 

The next game Nan has on the agenda is a partnered one legged race. This activity goes a little bit more successful for Harry and Louis considering they have to actually be tied together and work cooperatively. The two of them end up winning this race, by a landslide, mainly thanks to Louis because he's quick on his feet and didn't give Harry enough time to actually be clumsy, stumbling over his legs. The next game Nan has planned is a colored water balloon fight. There's really no exact winning for this activity. It's more of a free for all and defend yourself kind of thing, but Nan thought it would be a fun for all the relatives to watch as the kids completely drench one another with colored water. So one of the brothers ends up getting the bucket of colored water balloons and brings it out into the center of the yard while a couple others pull out a giant tarp to cover the grass. Anne and Jenna make sure to turn the sprinkler on, and when they have everything set up for the fight, all the adults go off to the far side of the backyard and watch as all the children line up around the tarp to get ready for the whistle signal. Once it's heard from Nan, all the children, including Harry and Louis, duh, sprint right on to the tarp and try to pile up as many colored balloons as they can get. Claire and Devin are in full force on attacking all the older cousins, mainly Gemma, Harry and Louis. The two of them throw balloon after balloon after balloon in their direction and drenching them with both water and coloring, and it was coming to the point where Gemma, Harry and Louis started to retaliate by all ganging up and going after all the little ones, even Gemma smacking balloons on top of Chance's head so he can get just as messy as all of them are getting. 

All the relatives off to the side are laughing and taking videos, and by the time all the balloons are gone and all the children are wet and colored, the games end with a final whistle blow from Nan. 

"If my calculations are correct," Nan calls out, glancing at the clip board in her hand before looking out at the contestants sprawled across the tarp. She laughs as she tucks her clipboard under her arm. "I believe Devin and Claire are the winners."

Devin and Claire jolt up immediately, quickly turning to one another and hugging each other tightly. 

"We did it," Devin cheered. 

"The best team ever," Claire gleams. 

The two of them start to do their own version of a victory dance while Gemma and Chance are standing up to their feet and finding the closest hose to wash themselves off. Harry watches them walk away before he's looking at Claire and Devins celebration dance, rolling his eyes fondly and turning to Louis to see just how messy he is. Harry starts laughing when he sees Louis' fringe flung all over the place and various splatters of color over his body. Louis' shirt and pants are fairly wet, and Harry knows the two of them need to clean off before dinner so as he goes to stand on his feet to lead them both to the bathroom, Louis ends up scooting closer to Harry and pushes at his legs. Obviously, Harry slips on some of the water on the tarp and goes falling on his ass, groaning when he thumps on the ground. 

"Louis," Harry whines, rolling to his side and pushing at Louis, frowning when Louis barely budged. "That wasn't very nice."

Louis rolled his eyes and slowly stood up on his feet, making sure he doesn't slip himself before he's offering his hand to Harry. "I couldn't resist it," Louis smiles, giggling as he pulls Harry to his feet. Harry stumbles again and slips a little bit, but Louis is quick with his hands and makes sure to grip Harry's hips before he has time to fall over again. "You really are clumsy, babe."

"Alright, everyone," Nan then calls out, blowing her whistle again. "You all need to get washed up before dinner. Do not get the color on my wooden floors, please."

Harry grabs Louis' hand and follows Gemma's direction to wash off some of the color they have on their shoes before they go inside. Nan has a couple bathrooms in her place, to which Gemma and Chance have already gone to so after Harry and Louis clean their shoes and dry off a little, Harry guides the two of them to the master bathroom in Nan's bedroom. Once the two of them are finally alone, behind the closed door, separated from the rest of the family, Harry wastes no time in crowding his body up against Louis' and trapping him against that said door. Harry's hands come up to Louis' face and holds on to him gently as he leans in to press their lips together, wasting no time in finally getting a taste of Louis on the tip of his tongue. Harry whines when he feels their tongues clash together in the inside of his mouth, and he's moaning for more as he pushes deeper into the kiss. He curls his fingers into Louis' cheekbones and arches his body into Louis' touch when Louis' hands go to his lower back. The kiss is heated and wet, a lot more intense than what it should be considering they are currently making out in Harry's grandmother's bathroom, but if it's anything to go by, Harry doesn't care. Harry doesn't care, and he wants to taste more of Louis. 

There's a small whine that comes from Harry's throat when Louis' hands drop to his ass and squeeze him tightly in his hold. Harry's leg hikes up against Louis' hip, and Louis quickly drops one hand down to his thigh and keeps him in place by holding him close. Louis kisses Harry a couple more times until he's slowing it down with longer, more drawn out kisses before he's pulling back all together, smiling as he rest his forehead against Harry's, idly rubbing their noses together. 

"What's gotten into you, love?"

Harry purses his lips and leans in for another kiss. "You're just ... - " Harry begins, unable to say his words without kissing Louis again, always craving more of his lips."You're just so good being around my family." Harry bites his lip and nudges his hips forward, smirking when he feels Louis' cock starting to fatten up because of him. "Well, _hello_ to you Mr. Tomlinson."

Louis raises his eyebrows and leans forward, kissing the smirk right off of Harry's face as he goes to grab Harry's other thigh. Louis makes sure he has a good enough grip on Harry before he's lifting him up in his arms, fingers digging into the back of Harry's legs as he starts walking forward. Louis continues to kiss Harry until he's reaching the counter, and he sets Harry down on top of it and moves his arms around Harry's waist to yank him towards the edge of the counter and closer to his body. Harry sighs into the kiss as his hands curl their way into Louis' hair, legs remaining around Louis' waist as Louis' hands find their way underneath Harry's shirt. 

"What do you want, baby?" Louis questions in between kisses, now moving his lips to the side of Harry's neck and beginning to kiss the warm skin there. 

Harry closes his eyes and tilts his head to the side, breathing deeply out his nose. "You," is all he says. Louis responds by kissing his way back up Harry's neck until their lips are meeting in another kiss, and then he's briskly pulling away so he can yank his shirt off and toss it somewhere behind his body. Harry smiles as he reaches for him again, biting his lip when he finally gets a feel of Louis' warm skin on his chest. "Wow, so sexy, baby."

Harry's fingers reach down next to unbutton Louis' pants, and Louis hands come out to grip the end of Harry's shirt, gently tugging on it. "Your turn," Louis says with a smile, helping Harry get the shirt off by pulling it over his head. Once Harry's chest is bare, Louis steps back into his space and begins pressing kisses all over his body, starting at Harry's shoulder before going down to his pec, then his abdomen, and finishing at Harry's belly. "You're so beautiful," Louis whispers against Harry's skin, kissing his way back up. " _Fuck_ , so gorgeous."

Louis gets his hands back on Harry's hips and helps get him off the counter so he's standing on his feet. They both quickly get their jeans undone and off their legs until they are completely naked head to toe. Louis looks around the cupboards to find towels for them to use while Harry gets the shower ready, and then the two of them are getting underneath the water with their bodies tangled together and lips chasing after one another. Louis wraps his arms around Harry's back and pushes him up against the shower wall so he can kiss him silly while the water from the shower head pelts droplets down his back, not really minding that he's supposed to be cleaning all the color off his skin instead of touching and kissing his wet and naked boyfriend. Harry gets his leg back up around Louis' hip, and now that they are both naked and flushed together, Harry nudges his hips up against Louis' own and bites back a moan when their cocks end up brushing against one another. 

"Now, what do you want?" Louis wonders, fingers digging into Harry's thigh where he's holding it up. 

Harry smiles, kisses Louis' lips, arms wrapping around his neck. "Same answer - _you_." 

Louis sighs, kissing Harry's cheek. "We can't really do that, baby. No condoms, or lube." 

"Can't you just ... I don't know ... _pull out_? Do we really need condoms or lube if we're in a shower?"

Louis snorts. "Not a good idea, Haz." Harry groans childishly, causing Louis to laugh under his breath. "I do have fingers that work just as lovely."

"Oh," Harry brightens up, dropping his leg from Louis' hold and spreading them apart instead. "I'd very much like that then."

Louis' fingers find their way to Harry's ass, and Harry's hands find their way to both of their cocks. It's nice. It's really nice, and although Harry can't have Louis' cock right now, he doesn't appreciate how much effort Louis tries to get him off with fingering so it's only fair that Harry repays him with a mind blowing, pun intended, blow job. 

After the shower, Harry and Louis get cleaned up and pull out some spare clothes to get changed in to. Harry is all giggles and clinginess as they two of them make their way back outside, and he instantly cuddles up underneath Louis' arm when they walk to join Chance and Gemma at the table where they are sipping on cold beer. Louis smiles as he hugs Harry close, loving how soft and cuddly Harry gets after an orgasm and it kind of makes him resent that they have to go out and be social with people instead of remaining tucked away in the closest bedroom. He really resents it even more when the two of them make it to the table and sit down without any comment before their moment is ruined by Gemma gasping loudly. 

"You guys had sex," She nearly screams. 

Louis shut his lips together and quickly looks around to make sure no one heard the outburst, but Harry looks just about mortified as he reaches over to smack Gemma on the arm. "Gemma, don't be so loud," Harry chastises. 

"I'm sorry," Gemma says quieter, laughing under her breath, shaking her head. "It's just, Harry ... You can't come out here looking like that after disappearing with Louis for nearly an hour. How can I not call your ass out on it?"

Harry raises his eyebrows, quickly glancing at Louis for help. "What do I look like?"

"Fucked," Chance blurts out, snorting when Gemma cackles louder. Harry gasps, offended, and turns to glare at him. "It's true. Your eyes are blown. Your cheeks are flushed, and your lips are swollen. Same with Louis."

"Plus, you have a lil waddle going on there. Are you sore from something?" Gemma adds.

"I do not have a waddle," Harry grumbles, slumping back against his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. "We were in the shower. I didn't think it would be as obvious."

Gemma laughs even louder. "You just bloody admitted you two had sex," she cheers, oddly proud and amused much to Harry's dismay. "You're not so much a baby anymore, huh?"

Harry rolls his eyes and slaps Gemma again. "Shut up, Gemma. You and Chance are no better. Must I remind you that our rooms are still close together."

"Yeah, and must I remind you that you and Louis _were not_ quiet last night."

Harry's face flushes bright red, and he decides that he is officially done with the conversation. He's already embarrassed that his sister realized they had sex in the shower, but now that _he knows_ Gemma heard what the two of them did last night in his old bedroom, which Harry actually did get Louis' cock then, he's more than mortified and kind of wants the ground to open up so he can fall in it. That's so embarrassing, and Harry knew that having sex in his childhood bedroom _was not_ a good idea when he knows that Gemma never goes to bed at a reasonable time. 

"Anywhoo," Louis casually says, wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulder and smiling proudly. Harry wants to hit him honestly. "Where's Claire?"

Gemma reaches for her pint and takes a sip. "She took a nap after she showered," Gemma explains after a drink. "She should be waking up soon."

Harry's glad the conversation steers away from his sexual life to another, more appropriate topic, but he's even more thankful when Claire comes walking out into the backyard a couple minutes later after her nap, looking sleep rumbled and still tired. She has a soft smile on her face as she walks her way over to Harry's table, taking the seat next to Louis and wiping underneath her eyes to get some of the sleep off her face. 

"How was your nap Claire Bear?" Harry questions, leaning forward to look at her, smiling when she blinks over at him. 

"It was good," she yawns, idly scooting closer to Louis' side and leaning her head against his arm. Harry's heart swells at the sight. "I'm getting hungry now."

"Well, it's a good thing the food is ready," Anne is saying as she walks up to the table, a smile on her face as she stands behind Claire's chair, hands going to her shoulders and gently massaging them. "Your mum has your plate ready. As for you guys - " she looks up at Gemma and Harry - "Food is ready. Go grab a plate."

Harry and Louis get up from the table, hand in hand, and walk over to the buffet that some of Harry's family members had created. They each get their plates full of food that Harry's Uncle and grandfather had prepared, and then he's guiding Louis over to the empty hammock that's tied to the two trees in the back corner of the backyard, happy to be getting his space away from the craziness of his family and spending some alone time with Louis while they eat. They both sit on the edge of the hammock and sway a little as they eat, mindlessly watching everyone else in the backyard and spending time chatting about nonsense. Harry's cousin, Landon and Reid, are shooting hoops out at the basketball goal, and Claire is eating her food with Nan out by the fire that some of the relatives have made. Anne is spending time with her brother and sister, and introducing the two of them to Robin like he's her prize possession. It really is nice for the two of them to sit back and watch everyone reconnect with one another, and even though Harry sees Gemma a fair share amount of time, he does enjoy watching his sister be in love with her boyfriend.

After Harry and Louis finish their food, they set their plates on the ground and end up laying back on the hammock together. Louis lifts his arm up for Harry to tuck himself under before Harry's head is resting on Louis' chest, sighing in relief now that they finally get to cuddle one another. 

"Thanks for coming with me," Harry eventually whispers, after the two of them have been lying there in silence, still people watching Harry's family. 

Louis smiles and snuggles Harry closer to his body. "Of course. I'm glad you invited me."

"Sorry if it was a little much. I wasn't expecting my Nan to surprise us with games."

Louis snorts as he nuzzles his nose in Harry's hair, squeezing him even more. "Don't apologize. I had fun, really. I loved meeting your family."

"Hey, you know I love you?" Harry blushes, tilting his head up and cheekily smiling a Louis. 

Louis rolls his eyes and kisses Harry's nose. "Yeah, I know that, and I love you, too, Princess. So much."

"You ruined it," Harry groans, flopping back on Louis' chest and biting his lip when Louis' arms go back around his body. "You need to stop calling me that."

"Whatever you say ... _Princess_."

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** Cuddles x

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**HarryStyles commented:** Love you xx

**LouisTomlinson replied:** luv u more (; princess xxx

**HarryStyles replied:**.... 

**//**

The next morning is more than crazy than the previous one, considering it's now _wedding day_.

Harry, Louis, Gemma, Chance, Claire, Anne, her sister Jenna, and Nola, Uncle Lance's wife, all stayed in Nan's house for the night while all the others stayed in the guest house Nan has out by the lake behind her main house. Since Nan lives on a big, open property, she intends to host everything at her place. The lake that is out deep in Nan's backyard is set up for the ceremony. There is a deck that runs over the water that's decorated with flowers, clothed chairs, and a hand-made alter right at the end. The plan is to marry Robin and Anne on the deck, and then afterwards, they will have their reception, or rather, the true celebration, out on the Yacht while Harry's grandpa drives it around on the lake. They have music and catered food planned. Jenna even bought a wedding cake they intend on cutting while they go boating, but in the mean time, before anyone can get think of getting to that point, they need to get ready. Liam ends up getting to Nan's place later in the morning, arriving alongside his mother, Robin's sister, and his father. Robin had wanted them to come to wedding since Robin and his sister are close siblings, and considering Robin has always had a great relationship with Liam, he wanted all three of them to be involved on his big day. 

Harry and Louis are woken up that morning when Gemma comes walking into the room they are staying in by shoving the door open and making a loud ruckus of it slamming back against the wall. Harry and Louis immediately jolt out the bed at the loud sound and see Gemma standing in the doorway with her arm raised in the air, obnoxiously tapping the watch on her wrist before she's turning on her heel and leaving them to get ready. Harry knows he needs to get dressed and styled as quickly as possible because he needs to make time of taking pictures of his mother and some of the other girls getting ready for the wedding. Then he plans on going over to the guest house to get a couple shots of Robin and the other guys, and then Harry needs to be close enough to the ceremony location so he can take all the photos of Robin walking up to the alter to his mother walking up to the alter to the two of them exchanging their vows. Harry has a set list of things he wants to accomplish with his photography today, and he really does intend on making his wedding pictures come out amazing so he can profile them for his new career portfolio. Plus, it's his mother's wedding so of course he wants to go above and beyond in making sure he captures the greatest memories of Anne and Robin wedding each other.

After Harry gets dressed in his blouse and skinnies, even running some product through his hair to keep it sleek and soft, Louis is walking up behind where he's staring at himself in the mirror and wraps his arms around Harry's body. "You look beautiful, by the way," Louis whispers, smiling as he rubs his nose along Harry's cheek. 

Harry smiles at Louis' reflection in the mirror and wraps his arms around Louis'. "I say you look better Mr. Tomlinson."

"Debatable," Louis presses a kiss to Harry's ear and loosens his arm a little so Harry can turn around.

"I love weddings," Harry admits with a sigh, arms going around Louis' neck and leaning in to give him a hug. "I hate to leave you, but I need to go take some pictures." Harry frowns and pulls back, his lips extra pouty as he looks into Louis' blue eyes. "Duty calls, babe."

Louis nods and kisses Harry's lips. "Go on and be all hipster. I'll be fine."

"You sure you won't miss me too much?"

Louis rolls his eyes, pushing Harry away from his body and playfully patting Harry's bum. "Don't be cheeky. Go do your job."

"Okay. I love you," Harry calls on his way out, grabbing his camera bag from the dresser and shouldering it over his arm. 

"Love you, too."

Harry walks out the room and heads down the hallways where he knows his mother and the other girls are in. They decided to all get ready in Nan's master bedroom and bathroom considering it is fairly big. She has a vanity set up by the windows in her room, and when Harry walks in slowly to see how dressed everyone is, he sees that his mother is currently getting her makeup done by Gemma. Her wedding dress is currently hung up against the closet door, Claire is getting her hair done by Nola, and Jenna is next to Anne sipping a mimosa. 

"Hi, sweetie," Anne greets when she catches a quick glimpse of Harry through the mirror, trying not to smile too wide while Gemma puts the last bit of lips gloss on her lips. 

Harry smiles and brings the camera up to his eye, taking a test shot of his mother in the mirror. "Hey, mum. You're looking pretty." Harry steps closer and admires his mother's hair that is already styled. She has a braid running on the right side of her head going straight into a curled low bun. "The hair is beautiful."

"Nola is doing all our hairs."

Harry turns to Nola, smiling as she starts running some product through Claire's short hair to make it naturally wavy. "It looks amazing."

"Thank you," Nola smiles in return. 

"Hazzy, do you like my hair?" Claire calls out, tilting her head a little so she can catch Harry walking closer to her. 

Harry walks to stand in front of where she is sitting and admires the little twist she has going on the sides of her head. He even catches the flower crown resting in her lap that he knows she intends on wearing. "You look beautiful, as always."

Claire blushes at the compliment, and Harry brings his camera up to catch a quick picture of Claire getting ready. Then he turns to his mother and takes a couple of pictures of Gemma doing her makeup. Harry spends the next hour or so continuously taking shots of all the girls getting ready. Eventually, Nan is walking in right as Anne is putting on her dress, and Harry gets the perfect emotional shot of Nan seeing her daughter for the first time in a wedding dress, and she instantly has tears in her eyes when she catches an initial glance of how beautiful Anne looks. Even Harry sheds a tear, and they all pass around hugs and kisses until Harry is having to drag himself away to go find where Robin is getting ready so he can take pictures of him. Robins pictures aren't as emotional as Anne's were, but Harry does get some good pictures of Robin fixing his tux, Lance helping him get ready, Liam showing him the wedding bands, Robin's sister and brother in-law giving him proper wedding advice, and even Harry's grandpa giving Robin a hug. Harry then follows all them as they leave the guest house and head towards the alter. Liam walks up and joins Robin since he is the best man, and Harry takes a couple pictures of the two of them standing together before some of the family members are walking out to take their seats. 

Harry turns at the first approach of people, smiling when it's Claire bounding in with Louis following behind. Harry quickly takes some pictures of the two of them and then is taking more pictures of every one else filtering in. Once everyone is seated, Harry steps off to the side and anxiously waits until Harry's grandpa is walking Anne down the aisle. Gemma is already at the altar since she is Anne's maid of honor, and right before the bride actually steps out the house, Harry takes some quick pictures of the maid of honor and best man. Then, finally, the bridal tune is playing, and everyone is standing on their feet and turning towards the house where Grandpa and Anne are slowly emerging with their arms linked together. Harry lets out a deep breath and starts taking pictures, following behind Anne and Grandpa until Anne's father is handing her off to Robin. Harry doesn't even realize he is crying until he gets a taste of a tear rolling across his lips. He has to set his camera down so he can wipe under his eyes and just really breathe in the moment of his mother getting married to the man of her dreams. As magical and beautiful as this wedding is, and how beautiful Anne is looking today, it makes Harry start to think about his own wedding day. Of course, when he pictures it in his mind, he can see himself with Louis up at the altar, and even though they had just celebrated their one year a couple months ago, he is still wondering if Louis has ever thought about the two of them getting married.

In the midst of his thoughts, Harry glances over at Louis and realizes that he's already staring back at him, a bright smile on his face and completely ignoring the fact that the bride had finally made it to the groom. 

Harry feels his heart beat in a way that it has never done before, and he gets so lost in the moment of staring into Louis' eyes that he barely registers that Anne and Robin are now exchanging their vows. Harry's body jolts at the sudden reminder and he quickly goes back to taking pictures, trying his hardest not to think _too_ much about the fact that in the height of a wedding, Louis had the strong urge to look at Harry. Harry isn't sure what he's supposed to make of it, but he does know that it made his stomach lurch in butterflies. Right before Robin and Anne finally exchange their rings, Harry rushes over to Louis and takes a seat right by him. Harry keeps his camera handy so he can still get some pictures, but watching the actual moment of them giving each other their wedding bands is something Harry really wants to watch. This time more tears fill Harry's eyes, and he lets them fall freely as Robin finally kisses his bride. Louis turns his head slightly in Harry's direction and smiles sweetly at him as he places his hand on Harry's thigh, comforting him while Anne and Robin hold their hands high in the air, now as husband and wife. 

After the ceremony is over, the family members all gather out on the yacht while Robin and Anne go change into something more comfortable. Claire ends up staying at the house with a couple other relatives since she needs to get some more rest, but a good portion of the family do find their way on the boat. Grandpa is steering the yacht, Gemma and Chance are at the front looking out on the water, and Anne and Robin introduce Nan to Liam and his parents. Harry is up on the top deck of the boat lounging out on a towel, and for a moment, he's enjoying the peace of watching the sun set beyond the water, but then Louis is walking up the ladder to join him, and Harry really can't think of anything more perfect that having his boyfriend's arms around his body while they watch the day turn into night. 

"Did you get some good pictures?" Louis wonders, walking over to Harry and sitting behind his body, pulling Harry's back against his chest and wrapping his arms around Harry's middle. 

Harry smiles and holds on to Louis' arms, tilting his head back on Louis' shoulder. "Yeah, I flipped through them earlier. They look beautiful." Harry sighs as he snuggles further into Louis. "Weddings are my favorite," he mumbles. 

"Yeah," Louis responds quietly, subtly squeezing his arms around Harry as if it was some sort of clue to something. Harry isn't sure if it's supposed to mean anything, but it does remind him that Louis' eyes never left his body ever since the wedding first started, and it makes so many thoughts swirl inside Harry's mind. "Me, too," Louis eventually agrees. 

"What kind of wedding do you see yourself having?" Harry ends up asking, trying not to sound too obvious that the wedding he is asking about is a wedding he hopes he is a part of. 

Louis doesn't miss a beat with answering. "A big one, for sure," Louis responds, pressing a light kiss to Harry's forehead. Again, Harry isn't sure if he's supposed to read into that or not. "I don't know, really. I definitely want outdoors, and I want the reception to be a big party. I wouldn't mind fairy lights or flowers somehow involved, but as long as you're ... " Louis clears his throat and laughs awkwardly. "As long as I have my family and friends there, everyone important, then I wouldn't mind too much where or how the wedding happens."

Harry hums thoughtfully, closing his eyes and snuggling his face into Louis' neck. "I love you," Harry whispers, opting to say that instead of commenting on the fact that Louis was about to slip up on his future wedding plans he intends to have with Harry. Or, at least that is what Harry thought Louis was going to say. It makes sense, Harry thinks. It kind of seemed like Louis was about to say _as long as you're there_ , which can mean a million and one things, but with all these clueless hints, Harry knows he needs to not overwhelm himself with wedding plans when he and Louis had just made it one year of being together. 

"I love you, too babe. So much. Just so you know. In case you forgot."

Harry giggles and leans off of Louis for a brief second, turning so he can face him. "I did forget, but thank you for reminding me." 

Louis rolls his eyes and kisses Harry's cheeky smile off his face. 

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** I love love. I especially love my love for you. x

 **LouisTomlinson commented:** i luv luv luv luv luv luv you too sunshine. (:

**AnneTwist commented:** I love it xx #TwistTogether


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm being honest, most of these chapters are just random and not really thought out. Hahah, but I hope you guys do enjoy it.

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

♥ **4,538 likes**

 **HarryStyles:** I didn't want to leave this ):

**LouisTomlinson commented:** should've stayed in bed with me babe. 

**HarryStyles replied:** I had to adult ))):

**NiallHoran commented:** Again ... it's creepy that you take pics of him sleeping.

**HarryStyles replied:** I MIGHT block you. 

//

See ... Harry remembers the exact moment he met Regina Walters. It was the night of his art exhibition. He had just gotten done presenting all the pictures he had taken to the small crowd that formed around his station. His mother and Robin were there - Niall, Liam and Zayn - and apparently, somewhere hidden beyond the crowd, Louis was there as well. It was a great night for Harry. Louis had told him that he loved him, Harry sold nearly all his photos for a great deal of money, _and_ he got a potential job offer. No, he _did_ get a job offer to become a fashion photographer for the one and only Regina Walter, a French fashion designer. It honestly had to have been one of the best days in Harry's life. He remembered going back to Louis' flat that night and hanging up the job information on the fridge so he can constantly remind himself that his photography skills is what got him an offer from one of the best designers in France and England. And well, ever since that day, Louis has been pushing Harry to give the job a try. Harry knows his specialty will go more into events photography, but if he gets to work alongside a professional like Regina and broaden his experience in the fashion industry, then he knows this is an opportunity worth taking. Shortly after Anne's wedding, Louis encouraged Harry to make the call to Regina about taking the job offer by the end of the summer, and in the mean time, Harry can work on setting up his own website and portfolio so one day he can use that to get other clients to hire him. 

Really, Louis had been the biggest supporter the minute he found out about Regina Walters offering Harry a position at her studio. This was the New Year's resolution that Harry had asked for, and now he's getting it all of it within a span of a few months. Harry created his own online profile by uploading all the pictures he has taken since he first started working with Matt at Chelsea. He has over hundreds of thousands of football pictures and a good handful of pictures Harry had taken when he travelled with the team. Harry also has a good amount of photos he had taken when he was at the Photography Institution. Most of his assignments were utilizing the new features on the camera he discovered and then going out and capturing art with it so by the time Harry actually did upload everything, he had a fair amount of folders underneath his name. Of course, the pictures he highlighted the most were the banner pictures he took with the team and the scenery shots he got from his travels, but now that he's getting in this new line of work with models and fashion, he could expand his profile to that area of interest. 

So now, after the summer is coming to an end, and the job offer is sealed, Harry is finally making his way to his first day of work. Regina has an office set up in Downtown London right near Big Ben. She has a tall office building that has everything equipped for her business, and Harry ends up having to take the elevator to the top floor because that is where all the offices are currently. He is supposed to meet with Regina and go over his plan for the next few months. She still has both of her photographers on staff, and the one who is planning to resign still has awhile so Harry is supposed to be shadowing him for the time being and get comfortable with all the tasks that the photographers handle. Harry really isn't sure what he's supposed to expect on his first day, but he does know he is nervous. This is his first professional job where he is going to be around talented people, and he's already worrying that his skills won't be as good as those around him. Harry knows the photographers he's going to be working with have years of experience, and all the models he's supposed to take pictures of have built an actual relationship with the current photographer, and all Harry can really hope for is that he fits in with every one who is there. 

Right before Harry actually goes anywhere on the top floor, he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Harry lets out a big breath of relief and steps off the elevator so he can pulls his phone out of his jeans, thankful that he can use reading a message as a slight distraction from how nervous he is currently feeling.   
  


_Hi my luv xxxx_   
_good luck today. you'll smash it. love u x_

The message reads from Louis, and Harry smiles at finally getting his morning message from his boyfriend. It's enough to calm and relax him a little. Harry sighs and types a response out, knowing he must grinning like a fool down at his phone. 

_Thank you boo xx I'm pretty nervous. Love you too. Always_ xxx.

Louis responds almost immediately.

_don't b nervous sunshine. ur talented and beautiful. whats not to love about u?_

Harry rolls his eyes and feels his cheeks heating up in a blush. He cannot let Louis' sweet talk get him all flustered right before he meets with his boss. There are people working around him while he stands by the elevator like a love sick fool, and if Harry actually wants to get started on his work, then he knows he can't be distracted by his boyfriend. If it were up to Harry, he could probably talk to Louis for hours just so he doesn't have to face his fears of actually working for a designer, but again, not a lot of people can say they get to work directly for an icon like Regina like Harry can so he knows he's going to have to push all his nerves aside and finally go meet with her. Plus, Harry works a half day, and he'll get to see Louis later at the charity match Chelsea is hosting. 

Harry finally puts his phone away and walks towards Regina's office that is at the end of the hall, but before he can actually get there and have a chat with her, there is someone walking up to him, standing directly in front of his body. "Are you the new photographer?" The girl questions, eyeballing the evident camera bag Harry is holding.

"Yes, I am."

"Perfect," the girl says. She grabs on to Harry's arm, gently, and begins walking him in a different direction. "I'm Freya, an intern here. Regina told me to go ahead and take you to the photographers, and then she'll meet up with you later. She has a meeting right now I think."

Harry nods his head and continues to let Freya walk him over towards the back. They end up going down two flights of stairs until she is stopping in front of a door labelled _studio._ Harry raises his eyebrows and realizes this must be where the photographers work. He didn't think he would be jumping right into things, but as Freya opens the door and ushers Harry inside, he sees all the lights and cameras set around a screen where the models will be taking their pictures. There are two men off to the side setting up their cameras directly in front of their assigned screens, and there are models scattered around the entire room either freshening up or trying on different clothes. Harry lets out a shaky breath and is about to turn to Freya to ask what he is supposed to do next, but he is stumped when he realizes she left him stranded there. Harry twists his lips together and faces forward again, taking hesitant steps over to where the two photographers are still getting ready. 

At Harry's approach, the first photographer looks up at Harry and frowns. "You're late," he grumbles, going back to his camera , taking a couple of test shots before he's pulling away. The man straightens up and turns to face Harry, soon grimacing when he gets a look at what Harry is wearing, which, it really isn't over the top. Harry doesn't understand the distaste that is evident on this man's face. Harry's only wearing skinnies and a flannel, nothing too over the top, but when he sees these man's eyes flash down to his wrist, Harry is looking there too, and he realizes that the disgusted look on this man's face must be from the rainbow bracelet he is wearing. Harry swallows and tries to hide his hands behind his back. "Well, I'm Craig."

Harry swallows, nodding, not making a move to offer his hand or anything. "I'm Harry," he introduces shyly, already feeling so out of place with how judgmental Craig seems to be. 

Craig goes back to his camera, and the man beside him is now stepping away to introduce himself. This man looks a lot more inviting and welcoming than Craig did. He has a bright smile on his face as he walks over to Harry. "I'm Will. You're going to be shadowing me for a bit until I leave this place."

Harry can breathe a little better knowing Will is a lot more friendlier than Craig. "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry."

"Awesome. So the models are finishing up their final touches, and then we are going to start the shoot for Regina's fall line."

Harry nods his head and follows Will over to his station. Will begins talking to Harry about what goes on during the photoshoots and what kinds of settings he uses on the camera. He informs Harry that some models are easy going with the poses, and other need a little bit of a push to get a feel for the clothes. They typically spend a few hours taking a bunch of pictures of all the models in all the clothes, and then once they're done, they go to their desk and start editing the pictures. It's a long process that Will explains to Harry, and Harry gets excited the more he learns about what these photographers do before they ever get to release their pictures for billboards or any other advertisements. 

After Will gets finished explaining the tasks for the day, the models start filtering in. Harry tries to get out of Will's way by stepping off to the side, but he ends up bumping into Craig's arm. "Don't get in the way, Harley," he nearly growls. 

"It's Harry, actually," Harry correct's weakly, frowning as he walks to the other side of Will to avoid bumping into him again. Yeah, Harry wants to steer clear of Craig for as long as he can. He can only hope by the time he's a full time worker and Will is gone that the two of them can be civil at least. 

"Don't mind him," Will ends up whispering, leaning towards Harry while the first two models get situated on the set. "When you work here as long as we have, it's kind of hard to find time to be happy."

Harry frowns and glances at Craig again, this time really attesting how he looks. Now that Harry can take a second to get a good look at his features, he can really see how worn out and miserable Craig looks. He can't be more than ten years older than Harry, but with all the stress lines and the tense shoulders he has going on, he looks well over his actual age. Craig is grouchy and mean, can't even find it in himself to smile at the new employee, and Harry starts to worry that if he does end up working here for the time being, then he's going to turn out like Craig. Being at this work for barely an hour, and Harry can tell the environment here is not an uplifting one nor and brightly one. Everything seems dull and tense, everything strictly focused on work and barely any room to even have fun or be happy. It's not an ideal work place for Harry. Harry always pictured himself with bright lights and happiness. Seeing everyone laugh and enjoy what they do, but even when he glances over to the models he, can see how much they don't want to be there, and it makes Harry actually nervous for what he's about to be a part of. 

Will and Craig begin taking multiple shots of each model. They spend a good portion with all of them to make sure they have enough photos showing off the clothes. Some models who are wearing outfits that correlate with one another end up take photos together, but after awhile when Will takes the majority of the pictures, he pulls back and turns towards Harry, a smile on his face as he tilts his head towards the next model who is walking up. "Wanna give it a try?" he wonders. 

Harry raises his eyebrows and falters a bit. " _Uh_ \- yeah. S-sure. Okay, yeah." Harry lets out a breath and walks up to the model who has taken their place in the middle of the screen. It seems like such a foreign thing to do of Harry greeting the model if by the wild looks everyone is giving Harry. Will and the model both look a little surprised as Harry walks up to her and greets himself, offering her a hand, being polite in making sure she is okay with Harry taking her photos instead of Will. Harry doesn't understand why everyone is surprised with interacting with the model. He's new here, and nobody knows who he is so he figured if he's going to spend time with all these girls here, then they should probably get to know his name. 

The model does smile at his approach though, even shaking the hand Harry had given her. "You're sweet," she says. "I'm Cara."

Harry nods his head and drops his hand from her hold so he can go back to the camera. "So, I had some ideas with this outfit you're wearing," Harry begins, trying to be confident in his voice. He even glances at Will to make sure he's doing fine, and when Will gives him an encouraging nod, Harry continues. "You're outfit is warm and cozy so I think instead of the serious poses, we should do poses that show off the comfort of the clothes."

"That's a good idea, mate," Will speaks up, patting Harry's shoulder. "We normal stick to the business looking poses, but I agree with you. These clothes are fun and cute, and the models should reflect that."

"What about playing some music while we do this? It might be hard for them to get into the feel of their poses if it's quiet."

Will hums. "I can hook my phone up."

Cara breaks out into a large smile. "I think I'm going to like you," she tells Harry. 

Harry blushes as he goes back to the camera, jiggling it around just so he has something to do. "Thanks," he whispers under his breath. 

Harry starts taking pictures of Cara once the music begins playing. She's instantly letting herself get into the feel of things by dancing around the set and laughing when some of the other models hype her up. Harry has a wide smile on his face as he gets all the perfect shots of Cara having a good time in the outfit that she's wearing, the perfect embodiment of what Harry had envisioned for this photoshoot. Cara even grabs some of the models off to the side who are wearing complimentary clothes, and she has them join in on the photoshoot. Harry has a good time with the music playing and taking pictures of all the models who want to join in on the session, but in the height of the fun, in the midst of all the laughter, the music is suddenly cutting off, and Harry is being interrupted by Craig getting in his way. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing? This is a fucking business."

Harry startles at Craig's sudden approach and the harsh bite to his tone. He takes a step back so there is some space between the two of them, and he tries glancing at Will for some sort of help, but even Will looks equally as lost in how to respond. "I _uh_ \- what?"

"Hey, Craig, why don't you fuck off?" Cara snaps, stepping forward and pulling Craig away from Harry. "Don't get pissy because the new photographer is already better than you."

"He's making this into a joke."

Cara rolls her eyes. "He's making it fun, not boring."

"He's not following what we do here," Craig argues. 

With a huff, Cara pushes Craig back to his station. "How about you stay on your side and let us be on Harry's side. If you have a problem, why don't you go find someone else who cares because we're trying to get good pictures over here."

Harry sighs as he watches the two of them bicker, but he figures if he has already caused this much trouble on his first day, he should probably step back for the time being. Harry lets Will go back to taking the pictures while he stands off to the side remaining quiet. Harry tries his best to stay out the way and not cause any more problems than he already did, but the air around them seems thick, and Harry is back to feeling so out of place. It's only the first day, and Harry has made an enemy - or more like, not a very good friend. Harry has been at work for a few hours and he already feels the need to cry over how embarrassed and uncomfortable he feels. Harry doesn't actually cry, but he does feel his throat tightening up when he tries holding all his emotions back, and he tries not to let Craig's outburst affect him too much, but it does put a damper in his mood, and it's harder for him to pay attention and interact with the models when he has the heavy weight of getting yelled at pressing at the back of his mind. 

After the photoshoot ends, Will and Craig go to their desk to begin editing their photos, and right as Harry is following Will over to his station, the door to the studio is opening up, and Regina is walking in. "Mr. Styles," she calls out, rather grimly. "In my office." 

She doesn't leave room to talk and is already heading out the door. Harry glances at Will with a startled look before he's hesitantly following where Regina has a fleeted. 

"Regina?" Harry questions as he walks slowly into Regina's office, closing the door behind himself and walking towards the arm chair. 

Regina takes a seat at her desk and flicks her eyes over at Harry, not looking very kindly as she does so. "Harry, there are rules we have to follow when working for my company. We do things a certain way, and it has helped us be successful for many years. Not one thing has ever gone out of line since I opened an office in London, and I don't plan on anything changing now that you are here. Do you understand what I am talking about?"

Harry swallows and nods. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. Now, you're done for the day. Let's hope tomorrow we get a better learning experience for you so we don't make any further mistakes."

Harry lets out a heavy breath as he stands from the chair to get out her office. If he thought Craig was scary, then he was surely wrong because Regina is much scarier than Craig will ever be. The last thing Harry wants to do is get on Regina's bad side, and it seems like he's already done that with his small photoshoot fiasco. Harry figures he should leave the rest of the day how it is and quickly make his way over to Stamford Bridge. He'll for sure do better tomorrow, and the last thing he wants to do is run into any more problems so he quickly rushes down the hallway and makes his way towards the elevator, but just as he's about to push the down button, the doors open up, and there stands a familiar face that Harry is honestly so thankful to see at the moment. 

"Jake?" Harry questions, breathing slightly better at seeing someone he knows. 

Jake smiles when he takes notice of Harry and steps out the elevator, pulling Harry into a welcoming hug. "Hey, man. What are you doing here?"

"I can ask you the same thing," Harry laughs, for once happy to see the other boy. "I just started working here as one of Regina's photographers."

"Oh, wow, that's awesome. Congrats. I actually landed a job at BBC, and they've been really invested in Regina for the past couple of months so they wanted me to come get some statements from her and write up an article about her new fall line."

Harry smiles and pulls Jake into another hug, simply needing that sort of comfort from a friendly face. "It's really good to see you," Harry mumbles, sighing as Jake wraps his arms around his waist. 

"Did you have a bad day?" Jake wonders, sounding slightly concerned. 

Harry pulls back a second later and nods, casting his eyes down to his shoes. "It was a bit stressful, but it was my first day."

"Well," Jake hums, reaching for Harry's arm to hold on to. Harry raises his eyebrows and looks up at Jake, surprised, not really wanting that comfort anymore now that they have already shared two hugs. "I'll be around a lot so hopefully I can help somehow."

Harry smiles appreciatively and realizes that he really does need to leave, and as glad as he was to seeing Jake, mainly because he's friendly, Harry still doesn't want Jake to get the wrong idea about anything. The two of them are friends, if that, and Harry would much rather prefer getting comforted by his boyfriend than a guy who has a crush on him so if he wants that to actually happen, then he knows he needs to get over to the stadium. The charity match will be starting soon, and Harry is supposed to help Matt today with taking pictures. Harry's really looking forward to that bit today because of how shitty his morning had been, Harry really could use the distraction of doing what he does best, and that's taking pictures of his boyfriend's football team. 

Harry gets to his car quickly and drives through London to get to the stadium. He knows he's running a little behind due to his meeting with Regina and his run in with Jake, plus the traffic doesn't help any, but Harry really is hoping that he can catch Louis before he goes out onto the field just so Louis could calm him down some. Harry didn't get to really see Louis this morning since he was still asleep when he left, and after everything that happened at Regina's place, Harry really just wants Louis' arms around him. And a kiss, Harry wants a kiss as well. So when Harry pulls into the back lot of the stadium and parks in his designated spot, he all but rushes across the parking lot to get inside the arena. He flashes his pass to the guards that are by the door and runs through the hallways until he is turning around the corner that leads into the tunnels. Harry can hear the fans in the arena cheering and the announcer over the intercom explaining the purpose of the charity match so Harry knows Louis isn't on the field yet, but as Harry is rushing through the tunnel to find Louis somewhere, he ends up crashing into another body. Before Harry has the chance to freak out or fall down, hands are quickly gripping his waist and steadying him straight. 

That's when Harry gets a good look at who saved him, and he feels every tensed muscle in his body finally relax now being in the presence of his boyfriend. 

"Hey, babe, are you okay?" Louis wonders, slightly amused and slightly concerned. He can see Harry's frantic eyes staring widely at him and the shaky way his breaths are coming out, but none of it seems to matter now that Harry is in Louis' arms because Harry immediately wraps his arms around Louis' neck and pulls him into a tight hug, tucking his nose into Louis' neck and just breathing him in. Louis frowns and wraps his arms tighter around Harry's waist, happy to be cuddling his boyfriend, but definitely concerned with the way he is acting. 

"Louis, I'm so happy to see you," Harry whines, letting out an unsteady breath when he felt tears starting to fill his eyes. 

Louis' brows furrow together as he pulls back a little, noticing Harry's now glossy eyes. "Hey, what's wrong? Did you have a good day at work?" Louis questions right away, moving one hand to caress the side of Harry's jaw, keeping the other one secure around Harry's waist. Harry blinks a couple of times to keep any tears from rolling down his cheek, but they still end up doing so. He shakes his head to Louis' question and goes back to tucking his head into Louis' neck, really not keen on letting his tears be seen by even his boyfriend. "Okay, what happened?"

Harry lets out a big breath and pulls back again, laughing bitterly at himself as he begins wiping at his eyes. "This new guy at work, Craig, attacked me in front of everyone, and - "

"Wait, hold up," Louis interrupts right away, concern now changing to a hint of anger. "Who the fuck is Craig, and why the fuck is he attacking you?"

Harry widens his eyes and now attempts to calm Louis down, cupping the side of his face and getting Louis' fiery, blue eyes to focus on his green ones. "It's okay, Lou, really. Don't get worked up over it. He's just my co-worker. Nothing even happened other than him being an asshat to me. He got on to me about how I was taking photos and bossed me around, but it's whatever."

"It's not whatever, Harry. He shouldn't be treating you like this. He shouldn't be making you cry, Harry. If you think I'm just going to stand here and - "

"Louis," Harry interrupts softly, smiling as best as he can, even leaning in to press a gentle kiss to Louis' lips. "It's okay. I'm not going to make friends everywhere I go, and I'm glad you want to protect me, but you don't need to. I can handle it."

Louis raises an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Can you handle it though?"

"I can," Harry responds, moving his arms back around Louis' neck. 

Louis sighs and accepts the answer, to which Harry is thankful for. "So, how are the models? Did they all fawn over you at least?"

"Oh," Harry giggles, biting his lip when Louis' hands are back on his waist. "Don't tell me you're jealous," Harry teases, leaning in to press a kiss to Louis' nose. 

"Please, I'm jealous of anyone who gets to spend time with you when I can't."

Harry rolls his eyes at the cheesy comment, but he still gets all mushy because of it. He responds by giving Louis a kiss before Louis is having to go back into the locker room with the rest of team. Harry decides that he should probably change into the charity clothes that all of Chelsea is wearing today and then go out on the pitch to find Matt. Since the game today is not a real one and it's mainly an inner-squad, the coach typically likes to put on a good performance of allowing some of the staff at the arena join in on the fun of playing on the field. Of course, there are fans, and all the ticket purchases get donated to a designated charity so since Harry is partially on staff with Matt, he has the potential of going out on the field to play alongside Louis and his other co-workers. Louis even managed to get Zayn out on the field, and Harry knows it would be a good laugh if he had to see Zayn running up and down the field. The only thing Harry wishes he could have done was get Niall involved because he knows how much his friend loves being out on the turf, but instead, Niall has to spend his time out in the stands. 

After Harry changes into his clothes, he walks out onto the field and sees Matt getting pictures of everyone who is already there. Harry takes a moment to survey the stands until his eyes are landing on one of the lower sections where he sees Louis' family sitting. Harry smiles and immediately walks over to their area, laughing when the twins starts rushing down the steps to meet Harry at the railing. 

"Harry," Phoebe is the first cheer, Daisy following with "Princess."

Harry smiles and hauls himself up on the railing so he can lean over and pull the girls in a hug. "Hello, little ones. You two look bigger. Did you guys age up?"

Phoebe giggles and playfully pushes Harry's chest. "Silly, Harry. We are still the same age since last time."

"No, I refuse to believe it," Harry gasps. 

"You baked us a cake, Hazzy," Daisy reminds, almost in disbelief that Harry would ever forget such a thing. 

"That's right," Harry hums, nodding his head. "Maybe you two are still little munchkins."

They are interrupted when there is music blasting through the intercoms of the stereos, and everyone in the stands is standing to their feet to cheer loudly. The announcer informs every one that Chelsea is heading out onto the pitch, and he introduces every one on the team while the stadium erupts in loud noises. Harry partially winces at the loud sound, but he's soon softening his face when he sees Louis breaking apart from the team to jog over to him. Daisy and Phoebe immediately brighten up, and Harry's heart starts to swell with so much love and adoration when Louis' arm instinctively goes around his waist to pull him in close. 

"What's going on here?" Louis questions the three of them. 

"Harry forgot how old we are," Phoebe tattles right away. 

"No, he didn't," Louis mocks shock, turning to look at Harry disapprovingly. "How dare you."

Harry shrugs. "Honest mistake."

Louis' face softens to a smile and he leans in to kiss Harry's chin before he's turning to the twins. "Okay, little rascals, Harry and I have to go to work. We'll see you guys after, okay?"

"Okay, Achoo, good luck," Daisy cheers. 

"Score a kicker for us," Phoebe then demands. 

Louis shakes his head fondly and watches the twins run back up the steps to join where his mother and other sisters are sitting. Harry looks up as well, and the two of them are waving at the lot of them before Louis is dragging Harry away from the railing and out towards the pitch. 

Before Louis leaves Harry to join where his team is warming up, he smirks and leans close to Harry's ear. "I'm getting you in the game," he informs quietly, stepping away and winking when Harry frowns. "Just so you know so you better be ready. I'm expecting at least one goal from you."

Harry opens his mouth to speak, but Louis is already jogging away from him. Harry rolls his eyes and decides to join Matt, knowing very damn well that he's not going to let Louis put him out on that pitch.

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** Love my cheerleader xx 

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**Photographer_Matt commented:** It was great taking pics of him for a change. Got some good shots. 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** thanks mate. they're amazing. (: 

**HarryStyles commented:** Love you xxx

**//**

Harry had painfully avoided stepping foot on the pitch up until the last few minutes of the match. Matt had been dragged out there a couple of times, even some of the ticketing people, janitors, and concession stand workers made their debut, but Harry had tried his hardest to keep himself occupied so Louis wouldn't be able to force him out there. Unfortunately, it doesn't work when Matt sides with Louis and ends up pushing him directly into Louis' grasp, suddenly getting enraptured to making his first footie debut when Louis all but drags him out into the middle of the pitch. Harry whines the whole time as he hands his camera to Matt before he's being yanked behind Louis, wincing when everyone in the stadium grows louder at his approach onto the field. Harry really hates Louis right now, and the last thing he really wanted to do today was make a fool of himself in a stadium full of professional football lovers, especially considering his boyfriend is a professional football player, but luck really never seems to be on Harry's side. 

So, there Harry is, huffing and puffing as he lazily follows Louis' trail in running up and down the field. Honestly, Harry knows the semantics when it comes to football. He's been around it long enough to know how to play, but the issue is that Harry is simply not good at it. Harry is horrible, and he's clumsy, and instead of tackling other people for a football, he would much rather be doing something more exciting like leaping across the pitch and maybe spinning in the air. With how fast he has to run to keep up with everyone around him, he might as well take his chances and do a pirouette in the air. He doesn't do it, but he does think about, especially when Louis gets the ball under his control again and starts animately waving at Harry to gain his attention. Harry is already groaning as he glances at Louis, watching him jog over to where he is slowly pacing. 

"Baby, come here," Louis calls out. 

Harry sighs and runs over to Louis, casually keeping up his pace so they can run side by side, the other players mindlessly letting them be. "I didn't sign up for this," Harry pouts, kind of running out of breath because this is way too much running for him. 

Louis smirks as he side glances Harry. "Oh hush, let's make this goal together." 

"So you're saying you can't make goals without me by your side?" Harry teases, breathing heavily as he looks up and sees Liam at the goal ready for them to make the shot. "I don't think you can do it. You seem a bit ... " Harry pauses and bites his lip, getting closer to Louis until he is nearly in Louis' way. "Distracted," he finishes. 

Louis continues to focus on kicking the ball the rest of the way. All the fans in the arena seem to get louder at another potential famous Louis Tomlinson goal, and maybe it's more so exciting now than in a normal game because Louis is up against Liam, and they are two of the best players in the league. It seems like this is the challenge that everyone is wanting to see, and all the players who are supposed to be defending against Louis end up stepping aside so Louis can have the full field to attempt his shot against Liam. Harry looks up and gleams when he sees all these people rooting for his boyfriend to kick a goal against his own goalie, but what he doesn't expect is for Louis to abruptly stop running. Harry continues his jog, but he arches his head behind him to see why Louis stopped running. 

"Make the shot," Louis calls out, putting some force into kicking the ball in Harry's direction. 

Harry's eyes widen in brief fear as he changes his feet around to catch the ball with his shoes. He slows his running down a bit so he can get comfortable with jogging and juggling the ball at the same time, and when he looks up to see just how close he is to Liam, he realizes he is now within kicking distance. Harry doesn't even realize that the crowd has gotten impossibly louder until the sounds are ringing in between his ears. He takes a chance to look up and sees that all the fans are on their feet waving their hands around in the air like Harry making a goal is the most thrilling thing to happen. Harry feels a sudden rush inside of him when he sees all these people cheering for him, and he knows the one thing he cannot do right now is disappoint his boyfriend. So with great focus, Harry zeros in on the top corner of the goal, sticking his tongue out his mouth and quickening his pace just a little bit before he takes a chance and kicks his leg out, the side of his foot making great contact with the ball and sending it flying in the air. 

It seems like the entire arena just pauses as the ball soars through the sky. Harry doesn't know how it happens, but after the kick, he ends up tumbling forward on his knees, not able to keep his balance. He sits there on the turf and watches the ball move in slow motion as it brushes past Liam's finger tips to hit the back of the net, and Harry is too in shock to even process the fact that he just made a goal against one of the best goalies in the Premier League until he's feeling arms going underneath his own to lift him to his feet. The final seconds of the charity match tick by, and there is a loud buzzing sound mixing in with the loud cheers of the audience. Harry is in so much of a daze right now that he can't even focus on Louis who is hugging and congratulating and kissing all over his face. Some of Louis' teammates are even circling around them joining in on the celebration like Harry making a goal is the biggest deal ever, and quite honestly, Harry is pretty proud of himself for finding it in his clumsy self to be good enough to kick a ball into the back of the net. It deserves some celebration because not even the other staff members had been able to do that. 

After the initial shock of Harry making a goal finally passes over him, he's able to focus to his reality and lock his green eyes on Louis' blue eyes, smiling so widely when he sees just how fucking happy Louis is looking back at him. "Lou, I just made a goal," Harry breathes out, laughing, soaking in this moment because he's never felt this powerful before. Harry can now understand why Louis loves scoring this much. There is such a thrill to making a goal, and Harry is getting addicted to that feeling. 

"I know, baby. You were fucking brilliant." Louis cups the sides of Harry's face and plants a fat kiss to his lips. "That shot you just made was one a lot of people take years to master. The fucking curve on that ball was amazing. You made even Liam miss it, and Liam misses nothing." 

Harry blushes bashfully, leaning back into Louis' hands that are caressing his back. "I guess I am just a natural at sports."

"You're a lucky goof, that's what you are."

Harry furrows his eyebrows together, playfully, and punches Louis' chest lightly. "I think you're mad that I might become a better scorer than you are."

"Nah, you're a MVP."

Louis smiles and tackles Harry over to his teammates. Now that the charity match is over, there is music playing over the intercom and confetti falling from the top of the arena just for a casual celebration of having a great footie day. Louis is a laughing mess as he pushes Harry to the crowd his team had formed and watches fondly as a couple of them end up hauling Harry up on their shoulders, parading Harry around as if he is some prize they had just one. Harry's eyes widen in fear when he gets lifted, hands reaching down to clutch whoever's shoulder he can find as he quickly finds Louis' face. 

"Louis, I'm going to fall," he worries, laughing a little when the team starts chanting his name, even some of the fans joining in as well. 

Louis smile is bright as he watches Harry. "You're not going to fall, Princess. Enjoy your celebration."

Harry sighs and starts to bask in all the praise that people are offering him. Louis can't find it in himself to take his eyes off Harry when Harry completely glows from all the attention he is getting. It's quite endearing, and Louis is so thankful he has teammates that go out of their way to make Harry feel so comfortable being out there on the pitch with them. He doesn't even realize that he's gone off on a spiel of admiring Harry from afar until there's a hand patting his back, and when he jolts at the touch to see who the culprit is, he relaxes when he realizes it's Liam. 

"Lou, you treat him so good," Liam admits with a smile, nodding like he approves. It makes Louis' heart swell a little bit. - in a good way. 

"Well, I love him."

"It's nice to see you happy, though. I like this side of you." 

Louis blushes a little, trying to hide the heat rising on his cheeks by ducking his head down. "I don't know. Harry's just - Harry is good for me. He makes me want to be a better person, and he makes me want to give him absolutely everything in the world. I've never felt like this before, and it used to scare me, but now I embrace it."

"I'm glad, mate," Liam says truthfully, and when the two of them realize the celebration is dying down and some of the team is filtering towards the tunnel, they begin heading that way as well. "I'm glad you found someone you can be yourself with. You deserve it."

The two of them walk to the tunnel and linger around the opening. Louis really doesn't know what his team did with Harry, but he figures he can wait out here for the boy when Harry decides to start searching for him again. Louis smiles and leans against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling. "I never really thought I deserve to be loved by someone, but Harry makes me feel like I do," Louis explains, slightly vulnerable, some of the layers he's built up break down in front of Liam, feeling better that he can find the time to truly admit his feelings. "People always used my anger issues as an excuse for something, but Harry, I don't know - Harry was different. He wanted to understand me and know who I was outside of football. I think he was one of the first persons who saw right through me, and it was easy for me to fall for him. He takes all my anger away with just a simple look, and he makes me feel like there's nothing in the world for me to worry about."

"I get it, mate," Liam agrees with a smile, reaching out to pat Louis' shoulder. "He's your anchor."

Louis hums thoughtfully, glancing out onto the now empty pitch. "An anchor," he says under his breath, testing the words out himself. 

"Louis?"

Louis jerks his head around when he hears the echo of Harry's voice going down the hallway, and he instantly smiles when he sees Harry turning around the corner to make himself seen. Louis lets out a breath when he takes notice of Harry walking closer to him, and he can't help but step away from the wall to pull Harry in his arms. "Hi, love," Louis greets. 

"I lost you," Harry pouts, wrapping his arms around Louis' neck and curling his body in closer, glancing up and catching Liam's eyes. "Hi, Liam. Sorry, I scored a goal on you." 

Liam laughs as he begins backing away. "It was a great shot, mate. I'll catch up with you guys later." 

Liam turns the other way and starts heading towards the locker room. Louis and Harry remain in the tunnels with their arms around each other, but Harry moves into Louis' side instead so they can begin walking towards the exit. They have plans to go to Jay's house for dinner to spend time with the girls. The two of them haven't been over in awhile, and since all of them came out for Louis' game, Louis figured it would be nice if they went over and spent the night at the house. 

"So," Louis hums in the midst of their walk , heading for the exit. He smiles and tightens his arms around Harry's waist. "You ready for tonight?" 

"What's tonight?" Harry wonders. 

Louis pauses right before they walk out the exit door and turns to face Harry, smirking. "Tonight, you're getting your ass kicked in board games." Louis winks and reaches around Harry's waist to pinch his ass cheeks, giggling when Harry squeals. 

"Oh, don't you talk that mess to me Mr. Tomlinson. I'm on a winning streak tonight."

Louis snorts and finally pushes the door open so they walk to their cars. "Now, don't get a big head on me just because you scored a lucky shot." 

"A shot _you_ didn't make." 

"Oi," Louis yelps, chasing after Harry in the parking lot. "You better watch your mouth Styles."

And well, as the two of them run around in the parking lot eventually making their way towards their car to get to Anne's house, there's a brief moment where _something_ flashes in Louis' mind. It happens when they get to the house and Jay is pressing kisses all over Harry's face, welcoming him as if he's one of her own. It happens when Phoebe and Daisy fight over which one gets to sit in Harry's lap during the movie that have playing before dinner. It happens when Lottie and Harry spend nearly hours talking about fashion, and it happens when Fizzy spends the time to braid Harry's hair because she loves how long it has gotten. Because in those moments when there is a brief _something_ that enters Louis' mind, he can't help but wonder - to picture - even if it's just the tiniest little thought - that this must be what his forever looks like, and the only forever he can picture in his mind is the one right here, right now, one with Harry right there by his side. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Who scores better goals?

**LouisTomlinson commented:** u score the best ones x

**JayTomlinson replied:** It was a fantastic goal too . 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Important:**  
>  There is a one year time jump. The previous chapter is set towards the end of summer, but now we are jumping a year ahead to the start of the upcoming summer (: 
> 
> **Also, there will be drama coming up ... I'm so sorry. ): but, I'll give some smut to make up for it tehehehe**

**One Year Time Lapse:**

* * *

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** love when H sends me pics at work (; 

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 **HarryStyles commented:** What happened to your eyes only? :/

**LouisTomlinson replied:** its hard not to show u off bby <3

**GemmaStyles commented:** Put clothes on _**@HarryStyles**_

//

Summer _cannot_ come any faster for Harry. 

The thing is, Harry has been having long, stressful days since he originally started working for Regina. Harry's first week of learning the ins and outs had been tense since he was walking on egg shells the whole time trying to make sure he didn't step on anyone's toes, but the minute Will officially packed up and left Harry to fend for himself, it seemed like work was never ending for Harry. Harry had been working at Regina's for a little under a year, and his days were constantly filled with bustling from one thing to another. Truthfully, working for Regina had kicked his ass, and not in a good way. Harry probably wouldn't be too bothered by it if he actually enjoyed where he worked and liked the people he was around, but unfortunately, Harry was alone. Harry had little to no friends at work, and it seemed like everyone who had been working there for years thought the best way to treat the new guy was to boss him around like he was lesser than they were. 

The main problem was Regina and Craig, though. Regina was strict, which, Harry had figured since his first day, but he never knew the extent to how strict she was until he experienced first hand of her fall line being released. Regina was always demanding Harry to do things for her, and she mainly put all the work load on him for some unknown reason, and Harry thought it would be a good experience Regina was offering him, but the only problem was that he was gaining no benefits from any of it. Most of the pictures that got uploaded to the website or posted to billboards were ones Harry had taken, but everything had been signed under Craig's name giving him the credit instead of Harry. Even when Regina met with other clients to go over new designs, Craig was allowed to sit in on the meetings while Harry had to wait around in the studio. It was an unfair, double standard treatment that Harry had been putting up with for a year, and Harry was really hoping that he would get his big break soon with Regina, otherwise, he was considering quitting. Which, that _would_ suck since a lot of Louis' money went into the institution that helped get him this job so Harry was really hoping it didn't come down to that. But the problem was that Craig had already been a part of two fashion shows and attended fashion week last season with Regina, _without_ Harry, and with all the hard work that Harry had been doing to help advertise Regina's new clothes, he was really hoping that he could get a better job offer this upcoming fashion season. 

The only upbringing to working with Regina so far was that Harry actually got closer to Jake, and really, Harry was still debating if that was even a good thing or not. Anyway, since Jake worked with BBC, who indirectly worked with Regina, Jake ended up spending most of his days in the office with Harry. Harry never thought he would ever let himself become friends with Jake since Jake always had a weird crush on him, but if Harry had to be honest, Jake had been his saving grace at work. It was nice for Harry to have a friendly face around and someone to eat lunch with. No matter how rude his co-workers were, Jake was always much nicer to him, and it was hard for Harry to not _not_ be his friend. So ultimately, they grew a friendship, and Harry maybe doesn't despise Jake as much as he did when they first met, which was nice. It did lead to some tension between Harry and Louis but not enough to cause any real damage. It's just, Louis knows Jake has a crush, and he isn't so keen having Jake see Harry all the time, but other than that, Louis is very supportive that Harry was able to find someone he could confide in when at work. 

So, back to summer. The reason why Harry is looking forward to summer is because he gets it completely off from work. Regina is taking a long trip to South America to help inspire her next clothing line, and for the time being, all her employees get a couple months free from work. It works out perfectly considering Louis is training for the FIFA cup being held in Brazil, and Harry is more than happy that he gets to freely join Louis without worrying about missing work. Honestly, the summer is something Harry has been counting down since the beginning of the year, and the fact that they get to start off everything in Brazil, and spend their second anniversary there, Harry knows he's about to finally enjoy his stress free time. England is currently in the group stage before they actually bracket their way into the tournament. The day prior, they had lost to Italy by two point in penalties, and today, they're supposed to play Uruguay in a sudden death game that determines which team gets to continue in the tournament and which team loses out. This day, however, also happens to be Harry and Louis' anniversary, and since Louis doesn't have to be at the stadium until a few hours, he gets to spend his morning with Harry, cuddled up in the hotel sheets with room service breakfast on the night stand and a dramatic soap opera playing on the television. 

"She slept with her sister's husband?" Harry questions, lips pursing as he tries to understand the context of the story. He feels Louis grunt where he's leaning on his chest, Louis' fingers idly brushing through his curls while his own draw mindless patterns on Louis' bare sternum. "And she's crying because she got caught? Louis, what kind of show is this?"

Louis snorts and presses a kiss to Harry's forehead, tightening his one arm around Harry's waist. "Babe, all you've done on this trip is complain about the shows."

Harry pouts and tilts his head up, scrunching his face in what he hopes makes him look angry but ends up making him look like a disgruntled kitten. Louis smiles and cups Harry's chin, holding his head in place as he leans forward to press a kiss to his lips. Harry hums when their lips make contact, and he slowly rolls his body around until he's sitting himself on Louis' lap, thighs hugging Louis' hips and fingers tangling in the back of Louis' head. Harry dives into the kiss as he moves his lips so easily against Louis', feeling Louis lick his way into his mouth while Louis' hands go to caress his lower back. Harry moans when he gets the first taste of Louis' tongue inside his mouth, and he starts moving his kisses from Louis' lips to the side of his jaw before he's ducking his head into Louis' neck and hugging him tightly. 

Louis laughs, confused. "What is this? Cuddles?"

"Yeah," Harry sighs, smiling goofily, wiggling his body on Louis' lap and pressing every part of him to Louis, shivering when Louis' hand run over his bare back. "I hope you win today."

Louis hums, running the pads of his fingers along the knobs of Harry's spine. "That would be nice," he agrees, gently coaxing Harry to pull back a little so he can look into Harry's eyes. "It wouldn't be so bad though if we did lose. That just means we get to spend the rest of the week here while we celebrate how much I love you." Harry raises his eyebrows, interested, as Louis arches up to kiss his lips. "But, you also get to see Jaxson today. I know how much you love that little boy."

Harry's face breaks out into the biggest grin. "Oh, I love Jaxson so much," Harry repeats, wiggling his hips, not even realizing that the movement causes a twitch to Louis' cock, which, it's not entirely too soft to begin with. Louis tightens his hold on Harry's hips to keep him from teasing any more. "He is so cute, and he has the chubbiest little cheeks." Harry emphasizes this by squeezing Louis' cheeks, giggling when Louis slaps at his hand. 

"Someone has baby fever."

"I do, big time," Harry admits, unashamed. "I'm ready for my sister to have a child so I can be the best uncle to that baby."

Louis rolls his eyes, laughing under his breath as he pats at the top of Harry's bum. "Alright, we need to get up. We need some food before we leave this place."

"I suppose," Harry sighs, reluctantly rolling off of Louis like it's the most inconvenient thing for him to do. 

Louis shakes his head fondly and gets off the bed to follow Harry into the bathroom. Louis goes to the shower to get the water ready, and as he starts to puts his hands on the waistband of his pajama bottoms to pull them off his legs, he feels warm arms wrapping around his waist and a soft chest pressing to his back. Louis closes his eyes and leans back into the touch, holding on to the wrist that are resting against his belly. 

"What are you up to?" Louis wonders, tilting his head back on Harry's shoulder. 

Harry hums and starts to sway their bodies together, fingers inching down to Louis' waistband. "How about we take a shower together?"

"Oh, hell no," Louis laughs. He pulls his body away before Harry can get sneaky in pulling his clothes off and attempts to put some distance between the two of them, already seeing the infamous pout set on Harry's lips at the rejection. "Harry, you know I have a no sex rule the morning of a game." 

Harry huffs and chunks his own bottoms off, standing there completely starkers in front of Louis, smirking when Louis raises an eyebrow, clearly interested. "It's _my_ anniversary today. I should get what I want."

"It's _our_ anniversary. It takes two tango, baby," Louis reminds with a snort, and despite his protest to not showering with Harry, he still undresses his bottoms so he's naked as well, grinning widely when Harry glances down at his cock. Fortunately, Louis' cock isn't the softest, and when Harry takes notice of it, he licks his lips and steps forward. Louis tuts and steps towards the shower. 

"It's just sex, Louis, I think you can survive," Harry nearly whines. 

Louis really doesn't protest when Harry is walking right into his arms, chest plastering against one another as he leads the both of them in the shower. Louis laughs when his back hits up against the shower wall and Harry is standing in front of him, getting his hair completely soaked with the water falling from the shower head. 

"This is coming from the boy who was once terrified to have sex with me. Look at you now. Sex crazed and out of control." 

Harry has a pout on his lips as he runs a hand down Louis' wet chest, blinking innocently at Louis as he reaches for Louis' clearly interested cock. He pumps it once and feels Louis shiver. "I am not any of those things." Harry goes against his words by flicking his wrist faster, biting his lip when Louis tilts his head back against the wall to let out a moan. 

"Fuck," Louis breathes out, bucking his hips up to get more of Harry's hand before he's laughing breathlessly. "Fuck, Harry you're touching my cock. You're wild and out of control now."

Harry pouts some more, clearly making a show of how puffy and full his lips currently are. Louis pinches his eyebrows together and reaches up to run his fingers along Harry's lips. 

"Well, I have to be wild when you won't let me touch you." 

Really, Louis would never not let Harry touch him. He just sometimes likes to play hard to get. 

"I think you'll be fine," Louis manages to get out. He has to put all his will power in to reach for Harry's hand to stop him from pumping his cock. Louis ends up switching their positions and pins Harry to the shower wall so he can press Harry's hands up against it as well, completely rendering Harry useless from using his hands for anything else. "I told you I can't have sex while I'm playing."

Louis smiles when Harry pouts some more. "That is unfair," Harry whines, idly spreading his legs when Louis' thigh starts to wedge its way in between. Really, Louis has no control when it comes to Harry. Obviously, he's using his leg to spread Harry open despite his no sex rule. "You know, I didn't sign up for this whole no sex thing. I think you should have consulted with me first."

"You're ridiculous." Louis rolls his eyes, pressing a kiss to Harry's nose. 

Harry responds by forcefully removing his arms from Louis' grasp to wrap them around Louis' neck. He then pulls Louis completely flushed against his chest so their naked bodies have no inch of space in between them. Harry smirks when Louis' hand instinctively reaches out for his leg, lifting it up to rest right up against his hip like Louis needs something to dig his fingers into. 

"Well, hello," Harry greats, yanking Louis forward and sealing their lips in a wet, heated kiss. 

Louis easily slides his tongue into Harry's mouth and fights for dominance with Harry's tongue as his fingers dig into the underside of Harry's thigh. He involuntarily bucks his hips up against Harry's and feels the friction of their cocks rubbing together that causes another moan to come from both of them. Harry keeps pressing in for more kisses when the slick way their lips twist together is not enough for him to handle, and the heat inside the bathroom continues to grow as the two of them begin idly rubbing off on one another. The mirrors start to fog up, and even though the water is at a warmer temperature , Harry really can't tell if the steam around them is from the shower or from their kissing, but either way, it's getting hot, and their bodies are wet and touching, and Harry wants so much right now that it's overwhelming him. And honestly, Harry would stop if Louis actually made it seem like Harry's forwardness was not something he wanted, but given the fact that Louis is fucking his tongue inside Harry's mouth and gripping Harry's ass with one hand and holding his thigh with the other gives no indication that Louis actually wants to stop. Louis' even rolling his hips up into Harry's and working himself into getting fully hard, and when Harry reaches down in between their bodies to see just how truly affected Louis really is, he has to pull his head away and smirk when he feels Louis' hard cock resting heavy in his hands. 

Harry glances up and raises an eyebrow. "I thought I told you no sex?" Louis questions, biting his lip when Harry's stupid dimples make an appearance on his face. 

"Maybe I should be punished." Harry arches his body off the wall of the shower and takes Louis' ear in between his teeth, kissing his way down Louis' neck until he's gently biting at his shoulder. 

Louis huffs, grabbing the back of Harry's head and yanking him away by the pull of his hair. "I definitely agree. You need to be taught a lesson."

Harry raises an eyebrow, challenging, and smirks when Louis is pressing his hand to the back of his head, forcing their faces to get closer again. Louis' lips easily chase for Harry's in another sloppy kiss, but before the kiss can go any further, Harry is quickly turning their bodies around so he can push Louis up against the shower wall again. Louis' body easily goes as he carefully watches Harry's next move, interest peaking when Harry licks his lips before he's running his hands down Louis' wet body until he's dropping down into a crouching position. Just at the thought of what Harry is about to do, Louis is already tilting his head against the shower wall and tangling his fingers into Harry's hair. It's like his cock knows he's about to get sucked off by Harry if by the way he gets impossibly harder is anything to go by. Harry gets his face right in front of Louis' groin and teases him by pressing a kiss to the tip of Louis' cock, gently grabbing a hold of him and keeping Louis in place so he can run his tongue up the length of his cock. 

Louis shivers, hips thrusting up so he can get more of Harry's mouth on him. "Harry," Louis tries to say, not able to find his words when they die deep in his throat from Harry wrapping his lips halfway down his cock, swallowing him down like it's the most easiest thing for him to do. "Your lips are unfair," Louis breathes out as his fingers tighten in Harry's hair, holding him in place so he can thrust his hips a couple of times. 

Fuck, it feels too good to resist. 

"You treat me so fucking good. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," Louis nearly whines. Louis continues to pump his cock in and out of Harry's mouth while Harry sits there and lets him take control. He digs his fingers into the back of Louis' thighs to keep himself grounded as Louis pushes himself deeper and deeper, up until the point where Harry's eyes are watering up and Louis' cock is nearly nudging the back of Harry's throat, gagging him a little. 

Harry whimpers when he feels Louis slide deeper inside his mouth before he tightens his lips around Louis and slowly drags himself off, sliding Louis' cock from his lips with a slurping sound to follow. "I know you'll treat me good later," Harry says casually, flicking his hand up and down Louis' shaft, blinking his not so innocent green eyes up at Louis. "It's only fair that I return the favor now." 

"By all means, baby, have at it."

"Your no sex rule didn't last very long," Harry teases.

Louis tilts his head off the shower wall and frowns at Harry, chest heaving in ragged breaths. "It's kind of hard to resist you if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I noticed." Harry, the little shit, winks and then swallows Louis whole again, taking him all the way down until Louis' cock is brushing against the back of his throat. This time, Harry relaxes, letting the smooth guide of Louis' cock in between his lips be enough for Louis to finally spill down his throat. Like a champ, Harry takes it all, tilting his head back and making a show of Louis painting his face and his mouth white until the water from the shower is washing everything away. Louis all but yanks Harry back up to his feet and gets his hand around Harry's neglected cock, kissing Harry through his orgasm while he pumps him until Harry is coming in his hand. 

After the two of them clean up in the shower and actually take a proper, non sexual shower, Harry orders them lunch while Louis packs his uniform bag and changes into a nicer outfit for him to arrive at the stadium in. Their lunch comes in shortly, and while Louis gets everything settled for them to eat, Harry is pulling out one of Louis' England practice jerseys that he can wear for the game. It's a little snug since Louis has a smaller frame than him, but Harry likes the fit and loves the way it feels like Louis is hugging him close to his body. The jersey is strong in Louis' scent, and it's one he wears all the time around the house so of course it's one of Harry's favorite to wear whenever there's a game he can go to. Harry even ends up stopping at the full length mirror to admire the way Louis' jersey hugs his body, and he gets so lost in modeling his outfit for himself that he doesn't even realize Louis had stepped into the room and leaned up against the closest wall to watch him with a smile. 

When Harry does catch Louis through the reflection in the mirror, he turns around with a frown. "What?" he questions, not sure why Louis is looking at him all smiley and dopey. 

"Nothing," Louis shakes his head. He steps away from the wall he was leaning on and walks into Harry's space, arms going around his waist and hands sneaking underneath the jersey on his body. "I just like you wearing my jersey is all. It's nice."

Harry hums, looking in between their bodies. "It's a bit tight." 

"It's not my fault you're a big oaf." 

Harry giggles and pushes Louis away from him. "I am not," he argues, walking over to where their lunch is placed on the coffee table in the living room. "Oh, the food is here. Perfect, I'm hungry." 

"You sure you're not full? Had quite the appetizer," Louis smirks. 

Harry grabs his plate and takes a seat on the couch, scrunching his face up. "You're gross."

"No, I'm in love." 

Harry lets out a breath and laughs, turning his head so he can watch Louis take a seat next to him. Once Louis is sat, Harry leans forward to kiss his lips. "That was so cheesy, but I love it. I love you." 

"I love you, too, duh."

The two of them eat their lunch while another soap opera plays on the telly. They spend the next hour or so being with one another before Louis has to go meet with his team to take the bus over to the stadium. Unfortunately, Harry and Louis have to separate, and Harry is left alone in the hotel room after Louis is pressing a long kiss to his lips before rushing to meet Liam in the hallway. Once Harry is alone, he sighs and waits until Zayn texts him since the two of them are driving to the stadium together. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

**♥** **6,235 likes**

 **HarryStyles:** Such a great day so far with my love (: x

_View all 1,123 comments_

 **LouisTomlinson commented:** very great day ... very great morning (; 

**NiallHoran replied:** I don't even want to know what happened in the morning ...... -.-

//

Harry and Zayn walk down the steps to their section when Harry catches sight of Alexi already in her seat with Jaxson in her arms. Harry squeals as he starts rushing down the steps to quickly get to the two of them, leaving Zayn behind in favor of the baby that he wants to steal away.

"Jaxson," Harry cheers, already weasling the baby from Alexi's arms. Harry awes when he finally has the little boy in his hold, lifting him up in the air to blow raspberries on Jaxson's chubby belly and making him giggle so cutely. 

"Hi, Harry. It's nice to see you, too," Alexi teases. She stands from her seat and gives Harry a hug when Harry offers her one. She then steps back a little so Harry and Zayn can both take the two seats next to her before she's back to sitting. She smiles as she watches Harry bounce Jaxson in his lap, laughing when Jaxson starts reaching for Harry's curls again. "Old habits die hard, eh?"

"It's okay. He's too cute for me to care. He can pull my hair all he wants." 

Zayn snorts, muttering quietly, "You're used to having your hair pulled."

Harry quickly jerks his head in Zayn's direction and playfully punches him in the chest. Of course, Jaxson starts laughing, and Harry is easily back to putting his attention on the baby. "Are you ready to see Louis? He's wearing number seventeen. He's going to be so happy he has a new number one fan." 

"You know his dad is also on the team," Alexi reminds with a laugh, emphasizing her statement by showing the number on the back of the baby jersey Jaxson is wearing. 

Harry hums, turning Jaxson around in his lap so he can watch as the players run out onto the pitch. "Maybe so, but he looks better cheering for Louis." 

"Have your own child then silly."

Harry raises his eyebrows at the comment, but he tries not to think too much about it. Of course Harry has thought about his future and starting a family with Louis, but he would like to move into an actual house with Louis first and maybe have a more stable job before he can let himself think like that. He would also like to be married to Louis for awhile, but considering the fact that they are literally celebrating their two year anniversary _today_ , Harry thinks they still have a long way to go. It's a nice thought, having kids with Louis, but Harry doesn't want to get way too ahead of himself when they still have more years to experience together. 

After the teams get loose and they have some spare time to hang around, Louis ends up running over to where he sees Harry sitting, Zayn on his left and a baby on his lap. Louis approaches the railing and raises his eyebrow, trying his best to hold in his laugh when Harry blinks innocently at him. "What do we have here?" He questions, mainly towards Alexi. 

"Your boyfriend stole my baby," Alexi informs. 

"Sounds right," Louis agrees, looking over at Zayn and nodding at him as his greeting. "Hey, mate." 

"Hey, Lou." 

Harry clears his throat and wiggles Jaxson in his lap. "Hello, pay attention to me," Harry whines, pouting as Louis returns his gaze at him. "I tried to get Alexi to change Jaxson's jersey number, but she won't do it." 

"I guess I'll just have to enjoy you hogging my number then."

Harry hums, squeezing Jaxson close to his body. "I may have to sneak him your jersey number for a game so you can have both of us rooting for you."

"You're cute," Louis concludes. He leans over the railing and presses a kiss to Harry's lips, humming when he finally gets a taste of his boyfriend after going an hour without doing so. "Love you," he whispers. 

"Love you, too." 

Louis presses one more kiss and finally steps off from the railing. He backs away slowly on the pitch and smiles at where Harry is standing Jaxson on his legs. Louis watches Harry and the baby, both with England jerseys on when there is a brief flash of the future that goes through Louis' mind - one where Louis realizes that this could one day be his reality - Louis out on the field, and Harry with their son in the stands. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 1,989,092 comments**

**LouisTomlinson:** Happy Anniversary baby !!! You're the goofiest, clumsiest, sexiest, nicest, clingiest, most beautiful boy I know, and I love you so dearly. Heres to many many more x

_View all 1,211,231 comments_

 **HarryStyles commented:** You're the cutest (; Love you too boo xx Can't wait to celebrate us 

**AnneTwist commented:** So cute boys. 

**JayTomlinson replied:** Cant believe another year has gone by. Love them both. 

//

To Harry's luck, England loses, and Harry is honestly secretly cheering on the inside. They lose two to one, and that means they are officially out of the Fifa World Cup Tournament so they get to spend the rest of the trip doing whatever they please. Most of the team plans to head home, but Louis made sure that he and Harry stayed the full week so they could enjoy their time away from football to celebrate their anniversary. So right as the game ends, Louis rushes into the designated locker room so he can shower quickly and find Harry. He gets lucky when he sees that Harry is already waiting for him out back, and it just makes his search that much more easier now that he can easily walk up to his boyfriend and hug him. 

"I'm sorry you lost," Harry says truthfully, despite how giddy he is to finally spend time with Louis. Harry wraps his arms around Louis' middle and pulls him into a hug, humming as he tucks his head into Louis' neck. 

"I'm not all too upset about it," Louis smiles, kissing Harry's head. "I get to spend time with you now." 

Harry and Louis detangle themselves from the hug long enough for Louis to grab Harry's hand. Zayn had already walked out the stadium so he can pull the car around to minimize the walk Harry and Louis have to do. Since there are a lot of fans gathered around, Zayn tries to bring the car as close to them as possible. Harry and Louis briefly get bombarded when they are outside. They have security guards helping them through the crowd of people who are snapping pictures of them and shoving microphones in their faces. There are loud screams of girls and boys screeching in their ears, and through the craziness of trying to get to one place to another, Louis makes sure to keep Harry close and in front of him. Once the two of them finally make it into the car with ease, Zayn quickly drives off to take them back to the hotel. The two of them have a couple hours to relax and get ready until they have to make a reservation Louis had called in for at a famous Brazilian restaurant in the city. Harry and Louis plan on taking a cab so Zayn can have the car and do whatever exploring he wants with Liam, but since it's Harry and Louis' anniversary, they want to spend as much alone time together as possible. 

Tonight, since the majority of the day was spent at the stadium, they are going to have a romantic, candle lit dinner right on the coast of the water. Louis was able to rent out the back patio of the restaurant so the two of them can enjoy all the privacy they wanted without worrying of lingering fans near by, and they were able to have a peaceful dinner with just the two of them together. The next day, however, Harry wanted to explore the mountains. Harry intended on them renting out a tent and going on a hike through mountains and finding beautiful scenery to take pictures of. They get lucky when they find an area with a giant water fall that runs straight into a pond. The two of them decide to set up the tent there and spend the night together underneath the stars and the moon. It definitely was a great anniversary they got to share together, one that was quite memorable and romantic. Harry and Louis made love the night after their dinner after Louis had practically begged Zayn and Liam to decorate the hotel room with faux candles and red rose petals, and then they made love again the next day once in the water of the giant falls and then another time in the tent, really embracing how well their bodies connected as one and how in love they currently are. 

Really, it has been a great two years of being together. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 9,872 likes**

**HarryStyles:** You are my sunshine everyday. I love you with my whole heart. Thank you for giving me the best two years of our love. Happy Anniversary boo. xx 

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**LouisTomlinson commented:** ur the cutest and make me the happiest. luv u bby. xx

**NiallHoran commented:** Again w the creepy pictures H. 

**//**

The trip to Brazil does eventually end, and sadly, Harry and Louis have to go back to their reality. Louis has to start training with Chelsea again for their upcoming season, and Harry has to get prepared for his full time job with Regina Walters. It's this small in between phase that Harry is currently stuck in where he doesn't know what to do with himself. Since Louis is preoccupied with footie, and Niall is busy with Uni and his girlfriend - which is Ellie, woohoo on them finally making it official - Harry realizes that the only available person for him to actually be around is Jake. Harry doesn't want to stay at home all by himself and wait until Louis is finally done with practice. He wants to get out and enjoy his time, and right now, Jake seems to be the only available option for him so Harry does end up finding himself meeting Jake for a platonic lunch over at the local diner right near where they live.

The two of them eat in a peaceful silence when Harry's phone starts buzzing on the table. Harry's starting to get to the point in his friendship with Jake where he actualy speaks more than two words to him. Harry feels comfortable enough to hold a conversation and tell Jake things that he would probably tell any one of his other, few, friends. So when Harry flips his phone over to sees who's calling him, he immediately shows it off to Jake, both looking slightly surprised. 

"It's Regina," Harry informs. 

"Why would she be calling?"

Harry shrugs and finally answers the phone, pressing it to his ear. "Hi, this is Harry."

" _Bonjour Harry. This is Regina Walters._ "

"Hi, Regina, how are you?"

" _Bien, Bien. I was just calling you about the job of being my personal photographer, and I wanted to let you know that I would love to have you on staff full time. I am preparing to launch another fall line and already planned to participate in fashion week, and I want you to be a part of the whole process. What do you say Monsieur Harry?_ "

Harry chokes for a brief moment as he quickly glances at Jake, sharing a wide eyed look at him before he's slumping in his chair. "I would love that, Regina. Thank you for wanting me to be a part of it. I'm so happy you wanted to call and let me know."

Harry and Regina talk for a couple more seconds until Harry is hanging up the phone and setting it down on the table. Now that he has a moment to breathe and process the fact that Regina wants him to participate in all the upcoming features in fashion, he finds himself smiling like a fool. This is unbelievable. This whole year of him working his ass off to get noticed by Regina and respected by Craig seems to have paid off because now, finally, he gets to make a name for himself. Regina wants him at the company. Regina wants him as a part of the fall line, and Regina wants him involved in Fashion Week. Thats' more than Harry could ever ask for. 

"So?" Jake wonders when Harry doesn't say anything further. "What did she say?"

Harry blinks. "She wants me a part of the new line she is launching, and she wants me to help with fashion week."

"That's great, mate," Jake congratulates, reaching across the table to pat Harry's wrist. "I'm supposed to be covering Regina for everything this fall so I'll be right there with you during the whole thing. That's so exciting. I might even get to interview you." 

"Really? That would be pretty wicked."

Jake nods his head. "Yeah, it would. We need to go celebrate this. I'll buy a round of drinks for us. You're the man of the night tonight."

It doesn't even occur to Harry that he's saying yes and easily willing to go on this little drinking celebration with Jake. He's just too happy and too in the moment to actually realize that Louis is the one he wants to be celebrating with. It's Louis' arms he wants around his body, not Jakes. It's Louis' praises that Harry wants instead of Jakes. It's Louis' money Harry would rather be spent on his drinks than Jakes, but despite all these things that Harry wants, he brushes it aside so he can embrace this excitement he feels inside his body. Harry doesn't want to dwell on the fact that he might have to wait hours to re tell this news to Louis and try to force that same feeling he has now to resurface later. Harry wants to jump on the thrill and happiness he is feeling and rub it off on anyone who is around him. Unfortunately, it's Jake who's around him, and it's Jake who gets to help Harry celebrate his success, but it does end up going longer than Harry actually intended for, and he does regret losing track of time. One round of drinks ends up being five rounds, and by the time Harry is looking at his watch to see what time it was, mainly seeing if Louis would be home by now, he realizes it's well past midnight. The night has to quickly end after the last call of drinks because Harry had spent way too much time with Jake, and he still has yet to tell Louis the good news. Normally, Louis is the first person Harry tries to tell things to, but for some reason, it was Jake tonight, and it kind of makes Harry feel bad that Louis is getting put behind Jake on this amazing thing that happened to him, but it's better he hurry on home to tell his boyfriend than make him wait any longer. 

Harry calls a cab back to his place and tries to quietly make his way inside the flat, not sure if Louis is asleep by now, but as he's stumbling through the front door, he sees Louis suddenly jolting up from the couch, almost like he was waiting for Harry to show up at any minute. 

"Harry?" Louis calls out, face softening when he sees Harry mindlessly walking towards him. Louis stands from the couch and rounds it to approach Harry, hands immediately seeking out his hips and steadying him on his wobbly legs. "Where have you been, baby? I've been calling you all night." Harry opens his mouth to speak, but he quickly covers it and starts giggling. "Are you drunk?" Louis wonders, eye brow raised. 

"Hiiiiiiiii," Harry sings out, eyes squinting as his lips stretch into a bigger smile. 

Louis smiles, only a little and pulls Harry into his body, mainly so Harry's drunk weight doesn't fall over. "Hi, love. Why didn't you tell me you went out tonight? I was kind of worried about you."

"I-I don't know," Harry slurs, suddenly pouting. "I think my p-phone passed away." Harry wraps his arms around Louis' neck and smiles as he starts to sway in Louis' hold. 

"Well, where did you go? I texted Niall, but he said he wasn't with you." 

Harry hums softly and closes his eyes to the lull of Louis' voice. "I was with Jake," he admits, leaning forward to rest his head on Louis' shoulder. 

Louis grunts. "Jake? Why?" He's not jealous. Like, maybe a little jealous, but it's only reasonable because Harry never hangs out with Jake, and the one time he actually does, outside of work, they get drunk together. It's not the most settling thing for Louis to deal with, and he also doesn't like the fact that Jake has the most obvious crush on Harry so he is pretty upset that he found out his boyfriend had ditched the night with him in favor of getting drunk with a boy who has a crush on him. 

"I got a call," Harry explains after a moment, words coming out slow and languid. 

"What?"

"Regina called me. She wants me. She told me she wants me full time and - and she wants me to do fashion week and all that cool fashion stuff."

Louis raises his eyebrows at the confession and feels a sudden, dull throb make its way to his chest. It's not that Louis isn't completely thrilled and proud of Harry, he's over the moon about this, but it's hard for him to actually express those type of feelings when he's reminded that Harry shared this great news with someone who wasn't him. And not only that, it was with Jake, of all people. Louis could understand if Harry told Niall or his family first, which was very rare considering Harry told Louis _everything_ , but now that Jake has become a prominent figure in Harry's life this past year, and still has the same crush on him as when they were in Collingham, Louis doesn't like that Jake got to it first. Jake got to be the one to congratulate Harry, and Jake got to be the one to celebrate with Harry. Everything Louis wanted to do to show off how proud and supportive he is for Harry's new career, he already got beaten to it. 

It kinda sucks. 

"You got this offer, and you're just now telling me?" There's a hurt tone to Louis' voice that Harry must quickly pick up on because at the sound of Louis' voice, Harry jerks his head from Louis' shoulder, eyebrows furrowed together in concern. "You celebrated with Jake, and not me?"

Harry's lips pout, and since he's drunk, he ends up having tears quickly fill his eyes. "L-Loueh, I did want to tell you. So badly. I always tell you my news. You're my news person. I just - It happen so fast, and I was so happy, and Jake was right there, and I - well - I just - and ... " Harry pitifully whines when he cant even find the proper words to talk, and his emotions start to get the best of his drunken mind that he finds himself suddenly crying for no reason. "I'm sorry."

Louis sighs as he reaches up to cup Harry's face, padding away the tears. "Love, you don't need to cry," he smiles, showing Harry that's he not mad. "You're okay. We're okay. I was just worried about you tonight." 

"I'm sorry Lou-Bear. I am. Really sorry. So, so, so, so, so sorry. You know I love you a lot, yeah? I still do." 

Louis raises his eyebrow, now trying to hold back the giggle he feels coming out because Harry is tipsy and emotional, and he really wasn't expecting his night to turn out like this. Plus, he really can't be annoyed when Harry is just so cute with alcohol in his system. 

"I know you love me cupcake," Louis agrees, smiling fondly. "Why wouldn't you?"

Harry groans dramatically, leaning back in Louis' hold and nearly tumbling over the couch. Harry yelps at the feel of his body swaying, and Louis quickly reaches out to hold on to his hips. Harry sighs and goes back to staring at Louis face, slightly dopey, and slightly hazy. "I dunno," he mumbles lamely, fingers coming out to tug on the end of Louis' shirt. Louis raises his eyebrows. "I just wish I called you when I found out about the job." 

"It's really okay sweetheart." 

"No," Harry groans again, blowing air past his lips. "Iwantedyoutospinmearound," he then says in one complete breath. 

Louis laughs, too endeared at the moment. "What was that doll?"

Harry pouts some more and refuses to repeat himself. Louis rolls his eyes and releases his hold on Harry, now getting a different reaction out of him. "Where are you goin?" Harry nearly whines, stepping forward to reach for Louis again, but Louis shakes his head and steps further away.

"We're starting over, okay? Just act like you found out the news and then tell me about it." Louis smiles and walks over to the front door. Harry stands there stupidly in his spot and watches with a confused expression on his face as Louis steps out the apartment for a brief second before he's walking back in with a wide grin. "Honey, I'm home," Louis calls out, walking right up to Harry and pressing a slobbery kiss to his cheek. "How was your day?"

Harry breaks out into the biggest smile now that he has fully processed what Louis is doing. "It was perfect, and do you want to know why?" Harry nearly jumps on his feet as he reaches to squeeze Louis' arm, overly giddy and excited for what he's about to tell Louis despite Louis already knowing. 

"Of course I want to know why."

Harry bites his lips and bounces some more on his feet. "Regina called me today and told me she wants me to help with her fall line and fashion week. She wants me on her staff, Louis."

"Harry, that's fucking great." Louis closes the space in between their bodies and wraps his arms tightly around Harry's waist. He lifts Harry up in the air and spins them around in a couple circles before he's setting Harry back on his feet and steadying his drunkness by wrapping his arms around his waist. Louis smiles and kisses Harry's nose, heart swelling when Harry does his cute giggle. "I'm so proud of you, baby. You deserve that job."

Harry's face gets even brighter now that he gets the reaction from Louis that he wants, and he quickly leans in to press a sloppy kiss to Louis' mouth to show just how much he really appreciates the effort Louis is giving him. "So we can have sex now, right?"

"Harry," Louis belts out, laughing as he pulls his head away.

"I'm just kidding," Harry giggles, kissing Louis again and again. "Can we actually sleep? I'm super tired."

"You're super drunk." 

"Okay, and tired," Harry clarifies. 

Louis rolls his eyes and starts guiding them both over to the bedroom. "Yeah, and super drunk, baby." 

"Well, I'm drunk in love with you," Harry sings out. Harry starts giggling when Louis slowly lowers him on the bed before he is rolling on top of him, completely smushing Harry into the mattress and suffocating Harry with a bunch of kisses to his face. "Louis, stop it," he giggles, making no attempt in actually pushing Louis' off. Instead, he wraps his arms and legs around Louis, completely holding him there in his spot. 

"Okay, love, now you're suffocating me." 

Harry giggles and loosens his legs, letting Louis finally roll over to the empty spot on the mattress beside him. Once they are both situated in their spots, they turn on their sides and look at one another, scooting in closer until their bodies are nearly pressing up against each other. Harry sighs and reaches up to cup Louis' face, now frowning.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away," Harry apologizes again. 

Louis closes his eyes and leans his forehead on Harry's. "It's okay," he whispers, opening his eyes again. "But Jake, really?"

"I know," Harry nearly whines. "But he's my friend now. I see him all the time at work, and it's nice to have him there." Harry kisses Louis' nose. "I love _you_ though. You're the one I want to be with, and you're the one I want to share all my happiness with. Drunk _and_ sober." 

Louis rolls his eyes, smiling. "I know I'm being a twat. I'm just - "

"Jealous?" Harry finishes for Louis, biting his lip when Louis snorts. Harry shrugs his shoulders and deflate. "I don't see why you would be jealous though. It's not like I'm ... you know ... someone worth getting jealous for."

Louis furrows his eyebrows together, leaning up on one elbow so he can get a better look at Harry. "Harry, you know that's not true." Harry shakes his head, refusing to look up. "I'm serious, love. Look at me." Louis lays back on the bed and tilts Harry's head up, now looking into his green eyes. "I wish you could see yourself the way I do because I find you so fucking beautiful. You're breath taking, and anyone would be lucky to be loved by you. I know I'm lucky for it, and I love you so dearly because of it. Just please Harry, don't put yourself down. You're too beautiful, and lovely, and sexy, and perfect, and smart, and goofy, and amazing to ever think of yourself as anything less, okay? I love you."

Harry is blushing by the time Louis is finished, and he quickly tucks his way into Louis' chest when the overwhelming flush of Louis' words fill his body with warmth. "I love you, too," Harry responds, hugging Louis to him and curling as much as he can around Louis. 

Louis smiles and kisses the top of Harry's head. "I love you more." 

"No way," Harry giggles. "I love you the most. Now, let's go to sleep."

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** Sleepy boy. 

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**NiallHoran commented:** Nooo not you posting creepy sleeping pictures too 

**LouisTomlinson replied:** he's too fucking cute. 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something that sucks with writing is that I get some of the best ideas when I AM NOT NEAR MY COMPUTER. I swear, I have such a strong idea for a chapter, but I have no where to write it down, and by the time I'm ready to write the chapter, I completely forgot what it was that I was thinking. So sad.
> 
> **Also, there is some homophobic language in this chapter. I'm sorry. ): Read at your own discretion.**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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****HarryStyles:**** Morning. x

//

See, the thing is, Harry should be happy. With everything that is going on in his life, Harry should be over the moon. He has a stable job at a fashion company doing exactly what he wants. He is in a long term relationship with a boyfriend he is currently living with, and he is at a point in his life where everything is supposed to go his way. However, it doesn't seem like that's the case for Harry. Harry knows he should be proud of everything that has happened to him in the past year, but there is just something there in the back of his head from letting him actually feel this happiness he knows he's supposed to be living in. He doesn't know if it's the fact that he barely gets to see Louis nowadays. It seems like, more often than not, he and Louis are constantly passing by one another throughout the day. They get to spend quality time in the morning, but Harry often has to leave right when he wakes up to go to work, and then he's gone the majority of the day until evening, and the short night time he gets to spend with Louis is so quick and abrupt because half the time the two of them are too tired to do anything other than cuddle. So it's not like Harry and Louis get to be with each other for more than a proper minute. It seems like their moments are mainly shared between the sheets, either in the morning or at night, and those moments are so quick that Harry has yet to find any time to enjoy these small moments with his boyfriend. 

Harry also doesn't know if this has to do with his job. Harry is more than happy he is finally getting the position that he wanted as a full time photographer for Regina, but it seems like ever since he got the call from Regina, he had been non stop. Working with Regina has been stressful, and it definitely has kept Harry so busy that he doesn't even have time for himself to simply relax and breathe. Harry's constantly running from one shoot to another, and he's constantly following Regina around London at the different fashion shows she has been hosting just so he can get pictures of the models in all the clothes that Regina has designed. Harry spends most of his time either taking pictures or editing the pictures. He has to make sure each photo looks precise and perfect, and he has to edit the images to make sure the correct filters and settings are applied so they turn out billboard worthy. And if that's not enough for Harry to deal with at work, he has to add Craig on the list of problems that seem to be piling up for him. Craig has been nothing but a pain in Harry's ass since the minute he stepped into the office, and it doesn't seem like Craig is willing to lighten up anytime soon. Honestly, it seems like Craig had gotten worse _since_ Harry had become full time, and it's like no matter what Harry does, he cannot catch a break with the boy. 

Craig is ruthless, and he doesn't like Harry. He has made it obvious that he doesn't like Harry. He has strong feelings about Harry being gay, and it puts Harry in such an awkward position because he doesn't know how to handle the situation. Craig likes to harass Harry with his words, and although he hasn't gotten physical, he surely has been close to it. Every now and then, Craig will push Harry out of his way if Harry is standing somewhere that Craig needs to be, and sometimes, Craig will _accidentally_ bump Harry as if it was his way to show Harry how much he despises him. Craig even goes as far as messing with Harry's station by pushing down his light stand or rearranging all of Harry's files so Harry has to scramble around to get everything right again. It's kind of like Craig is sabotaging Harry and wanting him to fail, and all his harsh and offensive words towards Harry further prove how much he truly hates Harry being there. Harry tries not to let it affect him too much because despite how shitty Craig is to him and how strict Regina is with her work, he does like the pay, and he does like the experience. Harry doesn't want someone like Craig or Regina to be the reason to drive him away, but it seems like the more days he has to put up with everything, the closer he is to just finally calling it quits. 

It sucks. It really does. Harry is in such a shitty situation at the moment, and he doesn't know what he's supposed to do about it. He knows Louis had put in a lot of money to get him into the institution that provided him this job, and he knows this is the best hands on experience he could ever get in the photography business, but at the same time, Harry wonders if it's all worth it. Harry hardly sees the boyfriend that he lives with, and he never has fun when he shows up to work. He barely gets any time to see his friends or his family, and he's been on such a lonely routine for the past year that it feels like he genuinely has no one he can go to at the moment. Louis has football. Niall has Ellie. Anne has Robin. Gemma has Chance, and Harry, well Harry has his job, and he hates his job. He hates Craig and his homophobic ways, and he hates the strenuous workload Regina likes to throw on him, and he just hates it. He doesn't want to admit it out loud, but Harry hates it all. He hates working there. He hates his co workers. He hates the models he's working with, despite Cara, and he hates that he's still not getting any credit for the work he has been spending late nights on. It seems like all Harry has these days are Jake, and at first, this was something Harry had dreaded, but after spending a year with Regina and Jake being the only other person who has been right by his side had made him become such a reliable friend for Harry. Harry wishes the person he can go to is Louis, but since Louis is always busy with Chelsea and football, Harry doesn't have many options _but_ Jake. Sure, Louis isn't too fond of it, especially since Harry had gone straight to Jake about the job offer, but Louis does keep his comments to a minimum only because he knows he doesn't get to see and be there for Harry as much as he used to. It's something they both have to accept with this new life they are living. Harry hates being home alone when Louis isn't there, and whenever Harry wants to complain about work, he knows he can't go to Louis about it. Louis is a big factor in the reason why Harry has the job in the first place so it makes sense why Harry has been turning to Jake. 

THat's why, after another long day of work, Harry finds himself going to eat dinner with Jake. He remembers Louis telling him just that morning that he'll be staying late at the stadium due to a team meeting, and instead of fending for himself for dinner, he figures he can go out with a friend and enjoy the company. Harry would have rather been eating with Niall since they hardly see each other any more, but since Niall and Ellie began dating and both of them have Uni, they have been just as busy. So, Harry and Jake head over to the local diner right near where they work. After the long day Harry has had, he needs a drink, and maybe someone to talk to, and maybe someone who can give him advice about what the hell he's going to do about his job and with Louis. 

After Harry and Jake take their seat at the table and order drinks, Jake notices the slight stressed look on Harry's face. It's one he's been wearing constantly these days, but tonight, it seems more prominent than ever. 

"What's up?" Jake finally asks, having spent a few minutes watching Harry pick at the straw wrapper. 

Harry frowns and flicks the paper across the table. "Just work. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it."

"Is this about the upcoming fashion show in Paris?"

Harry nods his head. He remembers when Regina had asked him to accompany her to the fashion show in a few months. She's launching a full season's worth of clothes, and she plans to showcase each one at an exclusive fashion event in Paris. She had been working on these lines for years, and she intends on using a whole month of launching over hundreds and thousands of clothes that will launch her brand into the new millennium. Harry is supposed to be there to take pictures and help advertise all the clothes that she will be releasing, but the problem is that Regina plans doing all of this over the span of a month, maybe more, and Harry isn't sure he can be away from Louis for that long, especially if Louis plans on traveling with Chelsea. They'll never see each other. 

"I'm glad she wants me to go and help with everything, but I don't know. That's a long time away from Louis. I'm already struggling now not seeing him as much, and we live together."

Jake clears his throat, awkwardly glancing at the table. "Yeah ... that's rough."

"Louis told me that his Coach is planning something for the football team, and he thinks he's going to be traveling with that so I don't know how to tell him that Regina wants to steal me away for a few months to launch her mega fashion line."

Louis had been hearing rumors from his team that Coach is wanting to launch a football tour across Europe. Nothing had been set in stone, and he isn't too sure what the details are for it. That's what the meeting is about tonight, but Louis has a pretty solid idea what the plan is. Coach wants to host various football camps across the country to help the youth get more experience in the sport, and when Louis had first brought this up to Harry, the two of them were so excited to finally get away from the house and travel with one another. Harry was the most excited because that meant more time actually being spent with Louis and maybe his way out of this job, but since Harry found out about Regina's fashion show, he doesn't know how he's going to tell Louis that he most likely won't be able to travel with him anymore. It just fucking sucks because of course Harry wants to get first hand at working Regina's show, but just as much as he wants to do this, he really doesn't want to be away from Louis for that long. 

"Hey," Jake says after a moment, once the silence had been dragging on for too long. Harry raises his eyebrow and looks over at him. "What're you thinking about? You look troubled."

Harry deflates a little. "Just about the whole situation." 

"You know, I think I might be going as well. My boss at BBC wants me to get the exclusives on everything so I would be there with you." 

Harry smiles a little, just a little. "Well, that wouldn't be so bad. At least I won't be alone."

Jake smiles at Harry and reaches across the table to hold on to Harry's hand. If it were anyone else, Harry would find it as a comforting gesture, but since Jake has always had a strong crush on him, the small gesture makes Harry's muscle tense up instantly. Louis' hand is supposed to be in his, not Jake's, not anyone else's, and right now, Harry hates that it's Jake who's trying to comfort him instead of his boyfriend. It doesn't feel right, and it makes Harry miss Louis even more than he already does. 

After Jake and Harry finish dinner, they part ways for the rest of the night. Harry heads back to the flat and hopes that Louis will already be home from his meeting, but unfortunately, when Harry opens the door, he sees that the flat is dark. Harry lets out a sigh and turns on the first light he finds. He tosses his things on top of the kitchen counter and walks over to the couch so he can lay down and wait for Louis to get home. He really wished Louis would have been here already so they could spend a couple hours together before bed, but now that it's getting later in the night, Harry knows that once Louis gets here, they'll most likely head straight for bed. So the best Harry can do is wait up for Louis, only hoping and praying that he'll walk through the door at any moment. Harry messages Louis to find out when he's going to be coming home, but when it turns into long minutes of no response, Harry ends up turning on the television and finding the first appealing movie he can put on and watch until Louis finally gets there. 

About halfway through the movie, Harry's eyes start to droop, and with much resistance, he ends up falling asleep. It takes another hour or so before Louis is finally walking through the front door, but instead of being quiet and trying to make his way through the flat without much ruckus, he ends up stumbling through the door with a loud giggle coming out. 

"Harrrryyy?" Louis sings, slamming the door shut behind him and nearly skipping his way to the couch. He gasps in excitement when he sees his boyfriend stirring away on the couch, and he quickly crouches down in front of Harry with a bright smile on his face. 

"Louis?" Harry questions groggily. Louis reaches up to cup the sides of Harry's face and presses a quick kiss to his lips, but when Harry pulls back afterwards, he grimaces at the taste of Louis breath. "Are you drunk?"

"Hi, baby."

Harry furrows his eyebrows together, fully sitting up on the couch and wiping underneath his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Midnight," Louis responds happily. Harry's eyes widen when he hears the time, and the expression on his face must be pretty comical to Louis because he sits on the ground and laughs. "Why do you look silly?"

Harry scoffs. "It's midnight, and you're drunk." 

"True," Louis giggles. 

"This isn't funny, Louis. I've been waiting all night for you to come home." Harry stands up from the couch and takes a step away from Louis, shaking his head when Louis struggles trying to get to his feet as well. 

"You sound like sad Harry," Louis mumbles under his breath, losing his balance just a little once he's finally standing up properly. 

Harry rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, you never responded to my text message. You're drunk, and it's past midnight. Yeah, I'm a little upset right now." 

Harry knows he's being whiny and needy right now. Hell, he once went out and got drunk and didn't respond to Louis as well, but right now, Harry feels like his whole world is falling apart, and all he wanted was his boyfriend to be there when he got home so he could have a pair of arms to run into. Harry isn't even sure if he's truly upset with Louis. He thinks he's just more upset with the fact that he misses him and wants to be around him as much as possible. 

"I know, baby. I'm sorry," Louis sighs dramatically. He walks over to the couch and plops on it, slouching into the cushions. "Coach told us all the stuff about this camp things he wants me to plan out, and Zayn says I am stressed so he took me to drink some."

Harry shakes his head. "You've been stressed?" Harry asks in a high pitched voice, sounding slightly offended that Louis would ever say something like that, even if his drunken state is not fully aware of what's going on. "You're stressed because you're planning to do something that you love to do? Are you serious right now?" Harry laughs bitterly, rolling his eyes. "Louis, I'm stressed out. I'm so fucking stressed out right now that I could cry. I never get to see you anymore. Work is kicking my ass right now. Craig still makes my life a living hell. Niall is too busy with Uni and his girlfriend. My mum doesn't want to hear me complain. Gemma is in another country, and all I have these days is a guy I don't even want to be around much, but since he's the only one I have, he's all I got."

Louis pauses, sitting straighter on the couch, a slight furrow to his brow. "Are you talking about Jake? That fucker?"

"Yes, Louis, I am talking about Jake," Harry sasses. "He's literally the only person right now that I actually get to spend time with, and I hate it." 

"He has a crush on you, Harry." 

"Yeah, and you love me." 

Louis pouts. "I do love you, Harry." Harry blinks at the comment and starts to feel tears in his eyes. He tries not to let himself cry, but the weight of everything that's been going on finally settles heavy on his shoulders, and it seems like the only thing he can do right now is just fucking cry. Louis notices right away that Harry is holding back his tears, and he quickly stands from the couch and stumbles his way over to Harry, reaching to hold the sides of his face. "Harry, what's going on?"

Louis is surprised how quickly he can sober up once noticing how truly upset Harry is, but well, like he just said, he does love Harry, and the last thing he wants is for him to be sad. 

"I just - I miss you, Louis," Harry mumbles out, feeling his words get choked up in his throat. "I barely see you anymore, and I'm not mad that you got drunk with Zayn, but I do wish you would've have came home to me tonight so we could be together." Harry sighs and closes his eyes, pouting. "I know you don't like Jake, but you can't really get mad if he's all I have right now." Harry opens his eyes, green eyes now glossy. "I just don't want to be alone when you're out doing football."

Louis sighs and leans in to press his forehead against Harry's, gently wiping away the tears that are running down his face. "I'm sorry, Harry. I really didn't know. I didn't mean to make you cry or be upset. You know I love you and always want to spend time with you. I was just an idiot tonight and didn't think at all. I wish I did come home right away. You know I can be a wanker sometimes." 

Harry smiles a little bit. "I know you didn't do it on purpose." Harry moves his arms around Louis' neck and pulls him into a hug, nuzzling his head into the crook of Louis' neck. "I just really miss spending time with you, and I was upset because I really wanted you to be home before me. It's late now."

Louis hums and pulls back from the hug, smiling at Harry softly, moving his arms around Harry's waist and holding him close to his body. "I miss you too, love. Maybe we can try planning something ahead of time so we make sure we spend more time together. I'll try not to spend too much time at the stadium after practice so we can have more time at night. How does that sound?" 

"Sounds great." Harry bites his lip, now feeling his grin widening. "I'll try to wake up earlier so I can cuddle you longer." 

Louis shakes his head, laughing, so endeared. "I love it, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too, Louis."

"Alright, lets go get our cuddle started then."

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** Favorite kind of morning. x

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 **HarryStyles commented:** Love my cuddles with you xxx

**NiallHoran commented:** There should be a record with how many creepy sleeping pictures you two post ... 

//

The problem with Harry enjoying his cuddles with Louis is that he never wants to let go, and that's a problem, especially when it puts him half an hour behind his schedule. Harry is running late to work, and he's supposed to be taking pictures of some clothing designs Regina had done last minute and then work on uploading them to the website. He has to work with the models and get all fifteen outfits perfectly captured and then get the advertisement for it all set before the big launch at midnight. So it really isn't a good day for him to be late especially since Harry had planned on leaving early so he can make it to Louis' game that evening. Chelsea is playing in the Champions League Finals against Real Madrid, and Harry really wants to be there to support his boyfriend and take pictures of such an important game in Chelsea's season. So as soon as Harry makes it to the offices, he rushes inside to get started on all his tasks for the day. If he gets everything done in a decent amount of time, then he can easily make the game without being late. That's his plan. 

When Harry makes it up on the rooftop where everything for the photoshoot is already set, Harry sees Craig standing by his camera scowling at where Harry is walking through the door. Harry winces right away. 

"Great of you to finally show up," Craig grumbles. 

Harry sighs and sets his bag next to his station, pulling his camera out and getting all his settings ready. "Sorry," he responds quietly, swallowing when he feels Craig's eyes still staring at the side of his head. 

"I hope you know this is a big launch for Regina. I can't have you fucking it up because you decided to be late." 

Harry rolls his eyes, turning to face Craig. "Look, I'm here aren't I? The models are not even up here yet so I'm not late. How about you take a chill pill and hop off my back, okay?" 

Craig growls as he takes a step closer to Harry, making a move as if he's about to throw a punch. "How about you watch your fucking mouth with me little boy." 

"Hey!" A voice is then calling out, Cara's to be exact. She is appears through the doorway with some of the models following behind her, and she walks straight to where Craig has gotten into Harry's space to push him back. "Do you get off on being an ass? Maybe if you stopped being a dick to people someone might actually want yours." Craig grumbles and turns back to his camera. Cara rolls her eyes and faces Harry, attesting any damage that Craig could have potentially caused. "Are you okay?"

Harry shrugs, going back to his camera. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little frazzled I suppose. I was running a little late today."

"I'm sorry, bud. I know launch day can get that way." 

"I mean it's whatever," Harry reasons with, smiling slightly. "I get to see Louis play today so it makes up for it." 

Cara squeals. "I know. I'm so excited. A few of the models and I are going to the game today. Don't be mad when some root for Real Madrid." 

Harry laughs, licking his lips. "I won't tell Louis if you won't." Harry sighs, turning to Cara once he has his station completely set up, a smile on his face. "No, I was actually late this morning because we were spending time together. Since he has a game later in the evening, he doesn't have to go to the stadium as early so I didn't really want to leave him." 

"Oh, sounds frisky," Cara teases with a wink. 

Harry shakes his head. "Nah, we didn't do anything other than lay together and have breakfast in bed." 

"Harry Styles. When you have a window of being alone with your insanely hot boyfriend, you need to take advantage of it and have sex. When was the last time you even got boned?"

Harry blushes right away at the invasive question, coughing awkwardly and going back to his camera, fumbling around on it to give him something else to do. "Cara, we have sex all the time."

Cara scoffs. "Liar," she calls out, stepping in front of the camera so Harry can't escape her. "I hear you complain about how you two never have time together. There's no way you two are boning as much as you say you do."

"Tonight," Harry then finalizes, smirking as he glances up at Cara. "Tonight we will."

Cara nods, seemingly proud of that answer. "There you go."

Harry rolls his eyes and waves Cara off so she can join the other models. They still have some time before they need to start taking pictures. The stylists are currently doing last minute touches to make sure all the model's makeup and clothes are perfectly set on them. Harry remains at his camera and takes some test shots to make sure the settings he has works well with the natural lighting, and once he is officially ready for the photoshoot to begin, he suddenly hears Craig making a disgusted sound from where he's standing next to him. Harry frowns and turns his head towards Craig, raising an eyebrow. 

"What's your problem?" Harry questions. 

"Next time you want to talk about your gay shit, give me a fair warning. I'd rather not hear about your anal sex life."

Harry opens his mouth to respond, but he realizes he has absolutely nothing to say. His words die in his throat, and he suddenly feels an unsettling stir in the pit of his stomach that makes him uncomfortable and wary. Harry knows that Craig has his opinions about his sexual preferences, but every time Harry hears the comments Craig always mutters under his breath, it makes a shot of nerves swarm through Harry's body. Harry hates the feeling, and he hates how Craig always puts him in a place that reminds him how much people genuinely despise him for liking men. It brings Harry back to his old life in Cheshire, and Craig is a constant reminder for Harry of those times he would get beat up or teased for not liking what the other boys liked. It's part of the reason why Harry hates working at Regina's. Craig is homophobic, and he loves to make Harry aware of such a thing. 

Harry spends the next couple of hours with ease though once he and Craig get busy with taking pictures of the models. Harry gets to distract himself from Craig by diving into fun pictures with Cara and some of her friends. Since Harry had started full time, Regina has eased up just a little bit when it came to the photoshoots. She doesn't want the models too goofy in their shots, but she does enjoy looking at the laughing pictures and the ones where the models are smiling so wide. Regina has branched from the strict, business model pose to a more confident, free-lancing one that helps portray her clothes as something people would want to buy. It's one of Harry's greatest accomplishments there since the poses he chooses do end up being advertise. Of course, it doesn't make Craig happy, but it makes Harry happy, and he's glad that Regina has been easing up on him when it comes to the ideas he likes to produce. After the photo shoot ends, all the models return back inside the building to get changed while Harry and Craig remain on the roof top to start cleaning up their set. Harry knows he's on a strict schedule with trying to make it to the stadium before the actual game begins so he tries to start picking everything up at a quicker pace and putting all his supplies away so he can leave the office with enough time to make it to the game. 

However, in the midst of Harry's rapid cleaning, Craig steps in the way and prevents Harry from actually taking down his camera stand. "Why are you rushing?" Craig questions grimly. 

"Louis has a game tonight, and I would like to be early for it. So if you don't mind ... " Harry steps around Craig and finally gets his hands on the camera stand. He begins taking down everything and putting his camera back in his bag when he hears Craig grunting. Harry holds his breath for whatever comment is about to come out of Craig's mouth because he knows it's not going to be a nice one. 

"Louis fucking Tomlinson," Craig laughs, bitterly, saying Louis' name with such distaste that Harry has to stop what he's doing so he can look up at Craig, wondering where exactly this is about to go. "Who would've thought Chelsea would make a Queer the captain of their team."

"Hey, don't call him that. You know nothing about him."

Craig raises an eyebrow. "I know enough that he's a fuck boy that gets around on both ends and is shit at football."

Harry huffs as he sets his bag on the ground, walking over to Craig with a frown on his face. "First off, you don't know shit. Second, don't talk about Louis like that. He's accomplished more in his career than you ever will, _and_ he's making a hell of a lot more than this shitty job you think you're so fantastic at. Last time I checked, Louis won an award for being the blest player in the league. What exactly have you won an award for?"

"Biased fag," Craig ends up grumbling under his breath, pushing Harry away from him and stepping back to his station to start picking things up. 

Harry scowls. "Can't you do anything other than be a homophobic asshole? News flash buddy, not everyone wants to be like you. You realize that your shitty personality is the reason why none of these models even want to be around you so either grow the hell up, or keep those insecurities to yourself."

Just as Harry is turning away to finish his task, Craig ends up stomping his way towards him and gripping on to Harry's arms, fingers digging so deeply into his bicep that Harry lets out a small pained sound at the touch. "You better watch your fucking mouth you fag. I ought to rip your fucking head off for ever letting you think you can talk to me like that. Maybe you should go back to the hole you crawled out of and fucking stay there."

Craig finally lets go after another second and pushes Harry's body with so much force that Harry ends up stumbling over his feet and falling on his ass. Craig doesn't bother to help anymore with the cleaning. He leaves the rooftop almost immediately and leaves Harry alone to clean up the rest of the mess. Harry lets out a shaky breath once he is alone and lifts up the ends of his shirt to see if there are any marks on his skin, and unfortunately, when he takes a peak, he's sees the red imprints of where Craig's fingers had just been digging into his skin, and all Harry could hope for is that Louis doesn't notice it when he finally sees him later. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** My man x

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** my fav fan (; 

//

Harry finally gets to the stadium in a frenzy, and he sees that Niall already has their seat in the bottom section with Ellie, Jake, and Zayn. Harry blows out a breath of air when he sees that the team has yet to come out on the field, and he goes to plop himself in the open seat between Jake and Zayn. 

"It's about time you made it, mate," Niall greets after he gives Harry a hug, leaning back in his seat and stretching an arm around Ellie's shoulder. 

Harry rolls his eyes, huffing out another breath. "Busy day at work." Harry leans forward a little and smiles at Ellie. "Hey."

"Hi, Harry," Ellie responds with a smile of her own. 

"You honestly had me worried for a second," Zayn comments a moment later, elbowing Harry playfully. "Louis had been texting me nonstop asking if you were here. He's pretty nervous for this game." 

Harry feels bad because Louis had been texting him too, but well, Harry was more focused on not trying to crash his car while speeding through London. Harry frowns and pulls his phone out, seeing all the missed messages Louis had sent him. "Yeah, he texted me, too. I just didn't have time to respond." Harry sighs and puts his phone back in his pocket. "I had to clean up everything because my co-worker was an ass and left me to do it all alone." 

"Craig?" Jake wonders. 

Harry turns to look at Jake and nods. "The one and only." 

"I'm sorry, mate," Zayn amends, patting Harry on the back. 

"At least Louis will make you feel better," Niall adds, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis. 

Harry rolls his eyes and laughs. "That's true." 

As if on cue, the announcer calls out for both the teams to run out onto the field, and Harry immediately spots Louis in the crowd of his teammates. At just the sight of him, Harry finally eases up. He's just about to make a comment to everyone how happy he is at finally seeing his boyfriend after the stressful day he's been having when Jake is grasping his attention. Harry turns his head to see what it is that Jake wants, but something that Harry is not expecting is for Jake to wipe his finger right underneath his bottom lip. Harry's eyes widen in shock, retracting his head slowly as if to ask Jake why the hell he just did something like that. 

"You had powder on your chin. Probably from the models," Jake explains with an innocent smile. 

The two of them get interrupted when someone clears their throat in front of where they are sitting. Harry jolts at the sound and quickly turns to see Louis now standing right at the railing that separates the stands from the field. Harry immediately jumps up on his feet and leans over the wall so he can pull Louis in a much needed hug, burying his nose right into Louis' neck and sighing when Louis' arms instinctively go around his waist. 

"Louis, I'm so happy to see you." Harry distracts Louis long enough from him giving the death glare at Jake because Harry is quickly pulling Louis into a kiss. "I needed that," Harry says once he pulls back.

Louis smiles and moves one hand to Harry's arm so he has better leverage in leaning in for another kiss, but right when he goes to grab Harry there, Harry winces, scrunching his face in what looks to be pain. "Harry?" Louis questions, hesitantly pulling his hand away. "What's wrong, baby?" Harry doesn't think as he leans back in Louis' hold so he can lift the sleeves of his shirt. The red imprints that he had seen earlier had now transformed into dark, purple patches, and Harry can already feel the anger starting to radiate off Louis simply from someone else's fingers leaving a bruise on his skin. "Who the fuck did this, Harry?"

"No one, Louis. It's okay."

Louis lifts an eyebrow, unconvinced. 

"No one did anything, okay?" Harry tries to ease again, bringing his hands to Louis' face and gently holding him in place. "I think when I was messing around with the model's clothes their pins nicked my skin. I'm fine."

Louis sighs, still not believing it. "Harry, those look like finger bruises."

"Honey, I'm okay, I promise." Harry smiles and leans in to kiss Louis' lips a couple times before he's rubbing their noses together softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Louis kisses Harry once more before he's having to pull away to join his team for warmups. Harry stands in his spot and watches Louis off with a warm smile until Louis is completely distracted with the game. Harry sits back down in his seat and blows out a big puff of air as he lifts the sleeves of his shirt again, looking at the small bruises that had formed from Craig's fingers. 

"So, who really did this?" Jake asks, almost like he knows the answer and is waiting for Harry to just admit it to him. 

Harry bites his lip and looks back out on the field, smiling when Louis walks up to greet the other captain of the team. "I wasn't lying. No one did this." 

"For whoever's sake, you better hope that's true," Zayn mutters under his breath. 

Harry is luckily pulled from anymore interrogations once the game actually starts. Since this is a big game for Chelsea, everyone gets very invested and easily loses focus on the mysterious bruises on Harry's arm. Harry is thankful enough that he can relax in his seat and take some pictures of Louis playing against Real Madrid. The game is close the entire time, and Louis gets possession of the ball very often, but he doesn't get very many chances to actually score anything. Real Madrid had actually taken more shots in scoring than Chelsea, but every time they attempt, Liam easily blocks the ball from getting into the back of the net. It's a constant cycle of turn overs all the way into the half with the score remaining scoreless, and it keeps on going like this into the second half with it being 0-0. The time continues to tick down, and right when everyone is expecting this game to go into over time, Chelsea finally finds an opening to make a shot. Stan steals the ball from Real Madrid and gets Chelsea the possession very quickly. He finds Leevi out of the corner of his eye who had just side stepped the opponent to give himself a window of receiving the ball from Stan. Leevi runs a couple yards with the ball under his feet until he's finding Ronni off to the side. Louis quickly gets himself into position so he has a good enough angle to receive the ball and kick it into the top corner of the net, and when Leevi finally kicks the ball over to Ronni who then kicks it over to Louis, Louis takes the chance and sends his leg out flying towards the ball, easily making contact with the side of his foot and sending the ball flying through the air and right past the goalies' hands. 

Chelsea wins the game, and they become Champions League champions.

After the game, Louis follows the team back into the locker room while Harry makes his way towards the back. Niall, Elli and Jake end up leaving together since they all rode in one car, and Zayn steps off to the side to make a phone call and give Harry his privacy while they wait for Louis to come out. Harry knows Louis has to do a bunch of press and conferences after the game since they just had a big win so he was hoping he could get a few minutes alone with the boy before they have to part for a couple hours. Harry's lucky when Louis is quick out the locker room and heading straight to where he is, arms quickly seeking out his body and pulling him into a tight hug.

Harry smiles and kisses Louis' face. "I'm so proud of you. Congrats on winning."

"Thank you, love." Louis hums and tightens his hold on Harry, swaying their bodies a little as they continue to hug. "I have to go do some press for a little bit, but I'll meet you home, okay?" Louis says as he pulls back from the hug. 

"Sounds good. I'll get dinner started." 

Louis kisses Harry's lips. "I love you. You're too good for me." 

"Shut up," Harry giggles, playfully pushing Louis away. "I love you, too. Now go do your press stuff so you can come home quicker." 

Louis nods his head and turns on his heel to head back into the locker room. Harry smiles as he watches him go before he's heading out the back door to go to his car. He's thankful that no press are allowed back there today because he gets to walk to his car in peace, however, once he's finally at his vehicle and is ready to get inside to drive home, there is someone walking up to him, startling him at the the sudden approach. 

"Are you Harry Styles?" The stranger asks. 

Harry pinches his eyebrows together and turns around to face the stranger, slightly concerned in wondering how the hell this crazed fan had gotten back into this parking lot. Except, he didn't really look like a fan if the Arsenal jersey he's wearing is anything to go by, but still, Harry is slightly on edge since this stranger knows his first and last name. That's quite unsettling. 

"Yeah, that's me," Harry responds slowly. 

The stranger takes a step closer, to which, Harry takes a step back. "So you know Louis Tomlinson then?"

"He's my boyfriend," Harry responds sassily, slightly defensively. He doesn't like where this is going. 

"That's good to know," the stranger comments, humming, smiling just a little. "I wanted to introduce myself. I'm sure you heard of me before. I'm Flynn Johnson."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, kind of a cliff hanger?? Does anyone remember Flynn? He was briefly mentioned a few chapters back heheheheh. Also, the drama isn't too bad, but not going to lie, it's just the beginning of it so be ready. LOL.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know this story is mpreg, and it hasn't happened yet, but just for the record, it's going to. I didn't want this story to be completely centered around mPreg, which is why it's happening so late in the story. But, it does happen (; and ***cough*** Harry is the one who gets knocked up. Unfortunately, we need drama to happen first. So here it is LOL. Love me?
> 
> also, IDK who the heck this boy is in the picture. Flynn is a completely made up name so don't think I'm bashing at whoever Louis' friend is haha.
> 
> **Heads up: This chapter also gets very sensitive towards the end so please be cautious when reading.** This is just showing a time in Harry's life (or anyone who can relate) where he feels at an all time low. It's kind of like those moments where you start crying about one thing, and then other things starts piling up on top of that, and you find yourself unable to stop the tears from pouring out. That's kind of what happens here, and with Harry's past mental health issues, it all comes weighing and crashing down on him. It's like he loses control of the situation, and he can't think straight, and that's something I try to portray (idk how well) but that's where I'm getting at with this chapter. Every one has a low point in their lives, and this happens to be Harry's. So that's why I want people to read with caution because people do experience these breakdown even when it seems like everything is okay when really, nothing is okay. Every one is always going through something so remember to **always treat people with kindness.**

**@FlynnJohnson tweeted:** Old lovers die hard (; _#Flouis_

**Trending:**

**#Flouis  
#HarryIsOverParty  
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//

Harry's eyes harden where he stares at the picture on his phone, trying his best to resist the urge of chucking the device across the room and watching it shatter into a million pieces so he _never_ has to look at picture of Louis with his old boyfriend again. Harry was fucking fine knowing that all of Louis' past relationships were in the past. Eleanor never came around much. Louis hasn't seen Hanna since New Years a couple years ago, and Harry really hasn't heard much about Flynn until he decided to show up in Harry's life. It's a mess, and Harry didn't know what to expect when Flynn first introduced himself, but ever since that moment in the car park, Flynn had been a living hell for Harry. Harry doesn't know what Flynn is trying to get at or what he plans on doing being back in their lives, but he sure as hell likes to let the world know that he and Louis were once lovers. It's been all over social media and the news, and it's turned into the hot gossip of Louis leaving Harry and returning to Flynn since they were each other's first boyfriends. It's been crazy, and Harry is fucking sick of it. And to make matters worse, Flynn plays for Arsenal now so Harry knows he won't be able to get rid of Flynn any time soon. 

So fucking great. 

Harry does try talking about it to Louis, mainly voicing how obnoxious Flynn is being and how much he despises this boy talking about Louis as if they're going to get back together. It's really not something Harry is used to, and since Flynn and Louis had a past, of course Harry's insecurities are going to start to rise. Flynn is now a successful football player like Louis, and all Harry has going for him is a photography career and a job that he hates. Louis repeats time and time again that Flynn means nothing to him, and he does his best to ignore all these accusations that Flynn has been putting out to the media. Louis doesn't even know why Flynn is all of a sudden doing this either. The two of them haven't talked to each other _in years_ , and all of a sudden Flynn is pushing himself into Louis' life. It's not something Louis wants to deal with either, and having Harry on top of it all complaining about the whole thing really doesn't help him try to forget anything. Honestly, they've already had arguments about Harry's constant worry and insecurity about Flynn. It's so dumb and stupid, and really, this is the main reason why Louis didn't want Harry to get on social media in the first place. That's where all the gossip goes, and that's where Harry is getting all his information from. The gossip ranges from Flynn and Louis getting back together to Harry cheating on Louis with Jake. Its been such a whirlwind of press and false accusations that it's really putting a strain on Harry's mind. Harry doesn't understand why the fans want to think this is how his and Louis' relationship has come to, but it seems like more people would rather have Louis date Flynn than him, and they seem to so easily believe that Harry would ever cheat in his relationship. 

It gets even worse when Harry begs Louis to do something as if he has the power to put an end to all the gossip. Louis tries to keep his name out of tabloids and tries to bite his tongue as best as he can. Louis doesn't want to give in to the gossip like Harry is wanting. He wants to remain silent and keep his relationship with Harry as private as he can. He reassures Harry all the time that the only people who need to be concerned about their relationship is just them, and they shouldn't worry about what others think considering they know nothing about their lives. It doesn't work for Harry though. Harry just wants Louis to make a public statement in putting an end to all these accusations, and Harry wants all this done so he can rub it in the faces of all those traitorous fans that he and Louis are happy and in love. Well, they're in love, maybe not the happiness right now since Flynn has caused a stir up in their lives, but still in love nontheless. Not only that, but Harry is still struggling to find time to spend with Louis since Louis is constantly playing and Harry is constantly working. Their time is still so very limited, and they only get a few moments together in the morning and the evening, but since Flynn had arrived, those shared moments are beginning to turn into arguments. It's such a mess, and Harry is more stressed than he was before, and he still has _yet_ to tell Louis about the fashion show in Paris. Louis is supposed to be leaving soon for his football tour across Europe, and he still believes Harry is traveling with him so Harry has no idea how he's even going to handle that on top of the shit he has to deal with Flynn. 

Honestly, right now, Harry just has too much on his fucking plate, and he really wishes he could just get away for a moment so he can take a breath and finally relax from the stress that life is putting on top of him.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**HarryStyles:** Matchy. 

//

Harry walks into Regina's studio, and Regina is already beckoning him into the office. With a groan, Harry trudges his way down the hall and walks into Regina's office, heading towards the arm chair in front of her desk and taking a seat. Once he's settled, he sees that Regina has a scowl on her face, one she typically makes when something she wants done hasn't been completed. Harry gulps. 

"Harry, I've been waiting for you to pick the layout of the show. I need ten models to be advertised and one to be highlighted as the star. Paris is right around the corner."

Harry sighs, knowing very well that Regina was going to be asking for those prints soon. Harry had been task in designing the layout for one of the week long fashion shows in Paris Regina is hosting. That week is specifically focused on Spring clothings, and Harry is supposed to pick out which pictures he wants to turn into banners so they can hang them up along the curtains of the stage. Harry has been so busy with constantly taking pictures of those clothes and editing the pictures to perfection that he simply hasn't had time to actually pick out which ones he wants to truly advertise for the fashion show. On top of that, Harry has the other shows he needs to also consider, for example, the shows for the Winter and Fall line, but since the Spring show is happening first, he's been more focused on preparing everything else that he let this small task slip from right underneath his fingers. 

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry. I can help pick them out now if you would like," Harry eases, biting his lip as Regina nods and grabs the portfolio next to her key board. She opens the file and splays the pictures on top of the desk to showcase all the photos that Harry had taken of the models wearing this specific line. Immediately, Harry seeks out Cara's, knowing very well all the shots he gets of her are his absolute favorite, and it's the quickest decision he can make without taking too long to consider his options. "I like the one with Cara. This outfit should be the highlight of the show." 

Regina picks the picture Harry had pointed out and looks at it thoughtfully. "I don't agree," she mutters, slamming the photo on the table and glancing up at Harry, a frown set on her lips. "Harry, all the pictures you chose to be highlighted are always of Cara when there are other models who do just as good. This isn't a favorites business where we chose our friends to be headlined. I need the models who are the prettiest and show off the best designs." Regina shakes her head and slouches back in her chair. "Leave my office please. I'll have Craig handle the Spring show instead. It seems like you aren't ready for this much responsibility."

Harry feels completely defeated by the time Regina is dismissing him and going back to her computer, completely acting as if his mere presence doesn't exist for her anymore. Harry is speechless and doesn't even know what to think now that Regina kicked him off this one project. Harry had been doing good for months here, and now that Regina thinks he's not ready for something as big as working a fashion show, he feels so useless. He hates how quickly Regina goes back to Craig, almost like she was kind of expecting Harry to fail so she had a reason to turn to someone else. Harry hates it, but instead of sitting in Regina's office like a bump in the road, he figures he can go back to his desk and start working on the other tasks Regina had assigned him for the other shows. The last thing he wants to happen is to get in even more trouble. Sure, Harry has thought about quitting and finding reasons to bail on the show, but all of that would have been on his own terms. He didn't want anything taken away from him because he wasn't ready for the responsibility or because he wasn't good enough. That's something Harry will never forget. He'd rather be a quitter than a failure, as lame as that sounds. 

Harry sighs and eventually gets up from the chair. He makes his way out of Regina's office and ends up bumping into Craig, already dreading the snarky comment he's bound to make. 

"Why am I not surprised Regina couldn't trust you with even with the smallest task? It's no wonder she had me as back up incase you fucked it all up."

Harry holds his breath as Craig pushes past him to walk into Regina's office. Harry doesn't bother to stay and listen in on what they could possibly be talking about, already knowing that they'll most likely being discussing how shitty Harry's work has been the past couple of months. Harry tries not to let the disappointment phase him too much, but he already feels tears in his eyes and the urgent need to run away and hide away his failure. It really was a simple task of him picking out the layout for the Spring Fashion Show, but he had been so overwhelmed and stressed and too busy in his emotions that he waited too long to actually come up with something good. It sucks because Harry really did have amazing ideas to make the Spring line look good, but with all these distracting things going on around his life, Harry just couldn't perform. It's embarrassing, and Harry's so upset with himself. He was doing good with Regina for so long, and now it's like he's back to square one. He really thought he was making a difference with his photography skills considering Reigna had changed the atmosphere of her photoshoots, but now Harry wouldn't be surprised if Regina goes back to treating Harry like he's lesser than anyone else. 

Harry sulks his way through the building until he's making it back to his desk. He's thankful that Craig is with Regina right now so he can have time alone to wipe away the stupid tears he feels filling his eyes. Harry's just at such a low point right now that it seems like anything could make him cry, and he absolutely hates feeling this way. He thought he got over this once he graduated Collingham, but it seems like this is something he just cannot escape. Harry slouches back in his chair once he uses the collar of his shirt to wipe his face, and then he's pulling out his phone to send a quick message to Louis hoping that his boyfriend could be the ray of sunshine that he needs. 

_When are you coming home tonight?_ Harry sends, anxiously waiting for a response with a bite to his lip. Harry sits in the chair for what feels like hours before he's finally seeing the three dots in the corner that signify Louis is typing. He knows Louis is probably busy and won't have time to talk, but he's atleast wishing that Louis' response can be enough to put a smile on his face. 

_we have a game today haz so it's probably going to be later than normal. whats up?_

Oh, Harry thinks, he completely forgot that Louis has a game later in the evening which means he won't be getting home until late. Louis will probably have to do press and statements after the game and do photo ops with the media, and that can end up taking hours so Harry most likely won't even get to spend any quality time with Louis at all today, and that thought alone is enough to send another wave of tears to Harry's eyes. Fuck, he hates that he's being so emotional lately, and he fucking hates that it all started because Flynn walked back into Louis' life. IF Flynn could have just kept his distance and not remind Harry and the world every second of the day how much he and Louis shoulder get back together, then Harry thinks he would be able to handle everything with ease. But having Flynn, on top of Harry's work stress, adding to the fact that Harry hasn't told Louis about the show, _and_ the two of them still not seeing each other as much, Harry really feels like he's about to drown with everything weighing down on him. 

Harry opts not to respond to the message since he doesn't want to bother Louis before his game. Instead, he pockets his phone and lays his head on his desk to give himself enough time to calm down before returning back to work, but just as Harry's about to close his eyes and mediate his breathing, the door to his office is opening, and Craig is walking in. 

"Hey, get the fuck up. You have a job to do. It's no wonder Regina kicked you off her spring line." Craig grumbles under his breath as he walks over to his desk, clicking the mouse a couple times until his computer comes to life. 

"Right, sorry," Harry mumbles under his breath, straightening up and wiping under his eyes. He clicks his mouse as well to bring his computer back to life before he's eyeballing at the blank screen contemplating what he's even supposed to be working on right now. "So, what are we doing right now? Editing the pictures?"

Craig rolls his eyes and groans. "No, dumbass. You're supposed to run the models through the poses for the show in the practice room. Do you not know how to do anything around here?"

"Right," Harry swallows, pushing his chair back and standing to his feet. "I'll _uh_ \- I'll get right on it."

Harry exits the room and takes the elevator to the floor where Regina has the practice show room set up. He makes sure he grabs his camera bag on the way so he can use it to test out how the poses look on camera. When he lands on the floor, he sees all the models still getting ready and fitted for some outfits so Harry decides to wait in the showroom for the time being. As Harry makes his way through the floor to remain as out of the way as possible, one of the stylist ends up stepping in front of him. 

"Harry, I need you to do something."

Harry hasto hold back his groan, swallowing it down with a smile. "Yeah, Louise?"

"The models makeup and hair look good with the naked eye, but I need you to print up profile shots so we can see how they look with the flash and the lights on camera. Got it?" Louise hands over all the model's head shots before their makeover, and Harry quickly grabs and tucks them under his arm. 

"I can do that." Louise nods her head and walks away after Harry's confirmation so Harry attempts to continue walking through the dressing room to make it to the show room, but once again, he's stopped by a tailor. "Hey, Alex." 

"Hey, Harry. I need you to take angle shots of the models in their outfits. I want to make sure the fittings are perfect on camera. I need it asap though incase I need to continue with the alterations." Alex grabs a paper from his back pocket and hands it over to Harry. "It's these ten models."

Harry sighs, grabbing the list and adding it to the pile he's already got growing. "I'll get right on it." Harry steps past Alex and is so fucking close to the door for the show room, but it's like he can't catch a fucking break because now Regina is calling after him. Harry stops and turns around, trying to bite at the annoyed expression he's trying so hard to suppress by welcoming her with a smile. "Yes, Regina?" 

"I'm glad I caught you before you started working, but I got a call from some of my contacts in Paris, and they're wanting to extend the show - "

"What?" Harry blurts out, nearly dropping all the papers in his hand when he lets Regina's words settle within him. That's absolutely the last thing he wants to happen, and it's absolutely the last thing he ever wanted to hear. His trip to Paris was already going to be long enough, but now adding on more days to it sounds like a fucking nightmare. Harry really doesn't want to be away from Louis that long if he's going to have to suffer Regina and Craig's wrath for longer than a month. 

"I have a very extensive years worth of clothes I am showcasing in a span of a few months. My coordinators believed it would be best for my brand if I host more shows in a longer period of time. If you have a problem with this decision ... "

"Regina," Harry sighs, sounding defeated. "I really don't think I can go for that long. The original show was already lasting a month, but adding more to that? I don't know if I can. I have a boyfriend here, and I'm just - I'm new, and I've never done something like this, and I ... " Harry trails off when he feels like his own words are stealing his breath away so he takes a second to calm down and prevent himself from getting worked up. 

" _Monsieur_ Harry. You have signed a contract here. You work for me now - "

"Yes I know that - " Harry interrupts again.

Regina lifts an eyebrow. "Let me finish," she demands, grimly, not sounding the least bit concerned for Harry's worries. "You have an obligation to fulfill as being an employee, and if you have problems with how things are ran here, then you can find somewhere to work. Now, do we have a problem?"

Harry sighs, dropping his gaze to the ground and shaking his head, suddenly feeling more defeated than he did earlier this morning. Fuck, this fucking sucks, and Harry really doesn't know how much more he can handle before he fucking explodes. 

//

Louis groans as he walks towards his car, trying his best to escape the pest that won't stop following him.

"Flynn, leave me alone why don't you?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you played great today," Flynn compliments, a flirty edge to his tone that has Louis rolling his eyes. Flynn quickly skirts around Louis and blocks him from getting inside his vehicle, smiling brightly when Louis scowls in annoyance. "C'mon, I'm just asking for one dinner with me. I'll even pay. My treat for us catching up."

Louis rolls his eyes and tries to reach around Flynn to get to his car door, but Flynn quickly deflects him. Louis huffs. "No, Flynn. I already told you I don't want to be with you. I need to get home to Harry. He's waiting for me."

"Louis, who are you kidding?" Flynn presses, blocking Louis from further advancing his escape. "We both know Harry has nothing against me. We're inevitable, you and I."

Louis snorts. "I love Harry. He has everything against you."

"I love you, Louis. I still do. Why can't you see that?"

Louis sighs, getting rather tired of this conversation. "Flynn, why can't you see that I never loved you? I never did. I never had any feelings for you. It was just sex, and it will have always been _just_ sex." This time, Louis does get around Flynn, and he makes a move to open his car door. 

"That's not what you told me the last night we were together," Flynn argues weakly, turning around to face Louis, looking slightly defeated and more so desperate. 

"Flynn, whatever I told you that last night was more so for you than it was for me," Louis admits bitterly, slowly sitting himself in the driver's seat of his car. "You noticed how I never called you after I left? It meant nothing to me so you need to give up on whatever it is you think happened between us because clearly, it was one sided." Louis doesn't bother to wait for his response, instead, he shuts the car door and puts the keys into the ignition. 

Louis quickly pulls out of his car spot and leaves the parking lot in a fury. He's already running late since he had to do the press conference after the game, and he was really hoping he could go home right after so he could meet Harry for dinner, but now it's getting too late, thanks to his run in with Flynn, and all Louis can hope is that Harry isn't upset or asleep. Louis knows how disappointed Harry can get whenever they don't get enough time to spend with one another, and truthfully, Louis gets bummed about it too. There's really not much they can do about it since their work schedules are the complete opposite, but the most they can do is enjoy the time they have together when they do find an opportunity to be around one another. One thing Louis has been trying to do is going straight home right when he's finished with practice or any post game conferences, and he's not perfect about it, but he does want to make it home with enough time to be with Harry before they're falling asleep. 

Unfortunately though, when Louis does enter the flat, he sees the lights are dimmed which means one of two things: Harry is already in bed, or he tried to wait up for Louis on the couch. Louis slowly emerges into the flat and frowns upon noticing Harry's slumped figure on the couch, arms hugging a pillow to his chest and body turned on his side as if he's trying to find something else to cuddle. Louis sighs and walks over to join him, crouching right next to the side of the couch and gently coaxing Harry awake with a gentle press of his hand to the side of Harry's face. 

"Harry, baby, wake up."

Harry stirs a little and makes a weak grumbling sound under his breath. He slowly opens his eyes and squints when he tries to adjust to the dim lighting in the room and to the close proximity Louis is to his face. Harry yawns and slowly sits up. "Hi," Harry whispers, wiping the sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand. 

Harry removes his legs from the couch and plants them firmly on the ground in front of him. Louis moves his body in between Harry's thighs and goes to place his palms flat on Harry's legs, glancing up at the boy with a soft, sweet smile. "Hi to you," Louis responds just as quiet, reaching for Harry's hand and tangling their fingers together, pressing a light, feathery kiss along Harry's knuckles. 

"It's a bit late, isn't it?" 

Louis blows air past his lips, weakly smiling because he knows he's later than normal. "I know, sweetheart," Louis says with a frown, moving his arms around Harry's middle and scooting closer so their bodies can touch. "I had press after the game and then a meeting with Coach. I thought I would get here quicker, but Flynn had caught me right as I was leaving."

Harry stiffens, face hardening. "He stalked you again?" Harry questions bitterly, not liking the fact this wasn't Flynn's first attempt at trying to meet up with Louis. It happens at least once a week, mainly days Louis has a game and Arsenal does not. It's really annoying. "Louis, can't you just leave him alone or something? You know he's trying to cause trouble, and you know I don't like him at all."

"I know you don't like him, baby, but I can't control what he does."

Harry furrows his eyebrows together and slowly detangles himself from Louis' arms. "I think you can be a little bit more forceful in the way you talk to him. You really haven't done much since he showed up, and it's the reason _why_ he keeps showing up. All he does is cause drama, and I hate that he constantly posts stuff about you two on social media. Do you know how that makes me feel when I see shit like that, Louis? Can't you do _anything_ about it?"

"Harry," Louis sighs, sounding just as tired and frustrated. He moves from his crouched position on the ground to the open spot next to Harry on the couch. "I can tell him to leave us alone all I want, but at the end of the day, he's still going to do what he wants. I mean, honestly Harry, let him do whatever he pleases. I know that you love me, and you know that I love you. THat's all that matters to me, okay? I don't care what other people think or say. All I care about is you."

Harry rolls his eyes, turning his head to the side and mumbling a quiet, "Sure doesn't seem like it," under his breath. 

"What'd you say?" Louis questions, tone slightly warning. 

"Nothing," Harry sighs. 

Louis twists his lips together and presses his hand on Harry's thigh again. "H, if you think about it. I go through similar things when you and Jake see each other. I see people making comments about it all the time."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that everyone talks shit about. I mean, after work I got so much hate for having lunch with him. It gets quite old that people think I would cheat on you with him."

Louis tilts his head, frowning. "Wait, you had lunch with Jake again today?" He asks slightly bitter, and Harry really wasn't expecting the change in Louis' tone to be so quick. 

"You were with Flynn again today."

"It's a little bit different, though," Louis reminds. "Jake is in love with you."

Harry scoffs. "Oh, and Flynn isn't?" he nearly shouts back, shaking his head. "Gosh, if we're going to end up arguing then I might as well - "

"We aren't arguing," Louis interrupts. 

"Yes, we are Louis. We're arguing."

Louis rolls his eyes, removing the hand he has on Harry's thigh. "We are just disagreeing about how to handle certain things."

"You've goto to be kidding me," Harry groans, pushing himself off the couch and turning in a circle once he's standing. "Louis, we're arguing over the fact that you can be jealous and mad whenever I hang out with one of my friends but then get all pissy and annoyed when I act the same way around you and Flynn. It's fucking ridiculous."

Louis stands from the couch as well. "Please, Harry, you know you and Jake are completely different than me and Flynn. It's so fucking different."

"Oh, enlighten me, Louis," Harry laughs bitterly. "Because it looks like, to me, that your fucking ex-fling is wanting to come back into your life to steal you away from me. He's so hell-bent on trying to convince you and the whole fucking world that you two were madly in love and deserve to be together. I see this shit every day, Louis, and then you sit here and tell me that Flynn continues this shit today? Thats nonsense, and you have the audacity to get all pissy because I had an innocent lunch with Jake. That's bloody stupid, Louis."

Louis groans, frustrated, and runs his hands down the sides of his face. "I've told you before Harry that what people say outside of our relationship doesn't fucking matter. Why do you keep reading that shit if it makes you act like this? I told you to stop listening to what gossipers say and start listening to me. Flynn hasn't even been doing anything that has caused a threat between us. You're getting too inside your head." 

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry groans, eyes widen when he realizes just how oblivious Louis must truly be. "Louis, Flynn post Twitter and Instagram posts about you two all the time, and he fucking stalks you every single day just so he can tell you how much he's in love with you. What the hell do you mean that he hasn't done anything?"

"Well, what the fuck about Jake?" Louis argues back bitterly, a bite to his tone that makes Harry's features harden. "He's been head over heels for you for the past couple of years and follows you around like a lost fucking puppy."

"Louis, Jake has literally done shit in trying to get with me. Yes, we have lunch together, but that's only because he's the only other person who has enough time to spend with me. My boyfriend is too fucking busy letting his ex-fling hold up his time instead of actually being with me so excuse me for turning to one of my friends to spend time with."

"Jake likes you so no shit he's going - "

"Yeah, and Flynn is in love with you," Harry interrupts loudly, tossing his hands in the air when he feels like there's nothing else for him to do. He laughs bitterly and takes a step back, running his fingers through his hair. Louis sighs when he doesn't know how to respond, and he goes to take a seat on the couch, hand pressing against his temples. "See, you know Flynn is a bigger problem than Jake. At least Jake hasn't been actively trying to break us up like Flynn has. You don't like when I spend time with Jake? Well guess what, Louis, I don't like when your ex fucking boyfriend posts and comments about the two of you being in love. The least you could fucking do is stand up for our relationship and defend me, but for some unknown reason, you want to remain fucking silent. It's no wonder why everyone thinks you should break up with me."

Louis abruptly stands from the couch, anger stretched across his face. "Harry, I told you stop fucking saying shit like that. I have told you before that what other people think mean shit to what goes on between you and me. I don't know how many fucking times I have to tell you this, but I don't like Flynn so stop believing what other people are saying and start fucking believing me. I'm your bloody boyfriend, Harry. We're going on three years and you still don't want to believe anything that I say. It's time for you to either trust me or get over it because I can't keep having you accuse me of this shit every time I come home. I don't know what else to say to you to make you believe that I don't want him."

Harry has tears springing to his eyes now that the heat of the conversation settles on him. One thing he hates the most is arguing with Louis, but it seems like that's all he can do these days. He does trust Louis, that's not really his issue. It's just hard to ignore how much Louis' fan despise him and how little Louis puts into actually defending him. Harry understands where Louis is coming from when he tells Harry to ignore what they say, but sometimes it's just hard. It's so fucking hard when every time he gets on social media he sees all the hate he gets for being Louis' boyfriend. It's hard for him to just ignore that shit, and sometimes, Harry simply wished Louis could see his side of things. 

After a few moments of silence pass, where Harry is looking at the ground and Louis is looking at Harry, Louis deflates and sits back down, running his fingers through his hair. "Look, I think we just need some time to cool off."

Honestly, there's no better time for Harry than now to tell Louis about the show in Paris. He's already having a shitty night, and they've been arguing long enough that he might as well throwmore fire to the flames. It's something he's been keeping to himself for months now, and if Louis thinks they need some time to cool off and get back on track, then he needs to know that time between them is starting to wear thin now that the fashion show is approaching quickly. 

"I don't have time," Harry eventually says, finally glancing at Louis with watery eyes. "Regina is hosting a show in Paris soon, and I'm supposed to go. It's going to be at least a month, if not more."

Louis lifts his head up, eyebrow raised. "When?"

"In a couple weeks," Harry mutters.

"You're just now telling me this?" Louis questions, stunned, slightly irritated. "Harry, we leave for camp in a couple weeks. Were you just planning on not getting on the plane with me and taking another one to Paris instead? Were you ever going to fucking tell me?"

Harry frowns. "I'm telling you now. I've been trying to tell you, but you've been too bloody busy for me to actually find time to tell you this."

"So now this is my fault?"

Harry huffs, shaking his head. "No, Louis. I'm just saying our busy schedules has kept me from actually finding time to tell you about this job."

"So you're not going on this tour with me?" Louis confirms, sounding disappointed. Louis releases a breath and slouches against the cushion of the couch. "We're going to be apart for months, Harry. This tour is three months long."

Harry shrugs, blinking his eyes back to the ground. "You assumed I would follow you instead of asking me. I do have a job you know." Louis grunts in response, not bothering to actually make a comment on anything. Harry feels more tears in his eyes when he see how truly upset Louis looks, and he insecurely wraps his arms around his himself when the look on Louis' face doesn't seem to lighten. "A-are you not going to say anything?"

"We're going to be apart for months, what the fuck am I supposed to say?"

"I mean, I'm not too happy about it either," Harry admits weakly, so quietly under his breath. There's another beat of silencee before Harry adds, "Jake is also going - for his magazine company."

There seems to be a shift in Louis' demeanor at the mention of this confession, one that has a nervous shrill shoot through Harry's bones. Harry tightens his arms around his body when he sees every feature on Louis' face immediately harden, and his once bright, blue eyes darkening in a way that showed his anger really was taking over. Harry swallows nervously and takes a small step closer to Louis, not wanting him to get too worked up over the fact that someone he absolutely despises is someone Harry will be spending months with. Harry walks to the couch and takes a hesitant seat next to Louis, reaching out to touch his arm to keep him calm, but for a first time ever, Louis deflects him grimly. 

"Louis - "

"I think you should go to bed, Harry," Louis ends up saying, calmly, too calmly, using a voice that puts Harry on edge from not knowing exactly where Louis' emotions are currently at. When Harry doesn't make a move, Louis shakes his head and turns to look at Harry, ignoring the hurt and defeated expression on his face. "Go to bed. It's late, it's been a long night, and I need to think about the fact that my boyfriend is about to spend more time with someone who's in love with him rather than me. So I think you just need to go to bed."

Louis doesn't bother to say anymore, instead resting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face deep into the palm of his hands. Harry swallows and follows Louis' order, knowing very well this is what's best for him considering how upset and angry he just made Louis. This definitely is not how Harry expected this night to go, and he kind of wished he remained asleep on the couch and never woke up.

And this is the first night in many that Harry and Louis sleep in separate rooms. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**LouisTomlinson:** Late night. 

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 **FlynnJohnson commented:** Cute (;

//

Harry should have know that the events of last night would carry into the morning and effect his mood all day. First off, he woke up to an empty flat, and by the time Harry had finished getting ready for work and walking out into the living room, he saw that Louis was no longer there. Harry's sour start to the morning continued when he got to work, and after he had been assigned to set up the photography station to run through a practice show with all the models, he ends up losing grip of the camera stand he's setting up and sends it crashing to the floor. Harry huffs as he crouches down to pick all the pieces that feel off, grumbling underneath his breath because this really is that last thing he wants happening right now. He knows he's distracted, and he knows he's still upset about the conversation he had with Louis the night prior, but if Harry wants to actually not get yelled at today by Regina or Craig, then he knows he needs to clear his mind. 

Unfortunately, he gets a second to breathe before Craig is commenting. 

"Fuck, Harry, can't you do anything right around here?" Harry huffs quietly to himself and tries his best not to let Craig bother him, but it's really hard to ignore him when Craig decides to stand over Harry's shoulder to watch him scavenge around for the fallen camera stand parts. "Wait a minute," Craig then grumbles, eyeballing the stand before realizing something. Craig grunts angrily as he reaches down to grip Harry's shirt, yanking him up on his feet and then pushing him back. "That's my fucking stand, are you kidding me? That shit is expensive and you fucking broke it." Craig growls and pushes at Harry again. "Why do you fuck up everything you do?"

Harry opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out except a strangled sound. He's quick to have tears fill his eyes, feeling so embarrassed for doing something as clumsy as dropping Craig's camera stand and then being pushed around like he's a ragged doll. Harry fucking hates how Craig makes him feel, and he really fucking hates working in this god damn place. Harry slowly attempts to stand on his feet and try to fix up the mess he created, but before he can actually get up, Craig is pushing him down again, this time with more force to where Harry's back lands on the ground with a loud thud. 

"I swear, if you broke any of my shit I'm going to kill - "

"Boys," comes a voice, a figure soon walking through the door to unveil Regina. She stands in the doorway, hands on her hips, looking unimpressed over at where Harry is slumped over on the ground. "What is going on? The models told me they heard loud noises."

Harry leans up on his elbow and uses his free hand to rub at the back of his head, groaning softly while Craig turns on his heel to march over to Regina. "He fucking ruined my camera stand and camera. The lens if fucking cracked." 

Regina's face hardens at the confession and takes a step closer to Harry, towering over where he's trying to shrivel up on himself. "Get out, _now,_ " Regina demands loudly, so loudly that it makes Harry shiver in fear. "You have been an abomination these past couple of months, and you have done nothing to help prepare for the upcoming fashion show. All you had to do was take pictures and help create the layout, but you couldn't even do that. Now you go around breaking my expensive equipment? You're fired. You're no longer welcomed to work here."

Regina turns on her heel and leaves the two boys in the room alone. Harry lets out a breath as he goes to stand on his feet again, realizing now that he's fired, he really doesn't have to spend his time picking up Craig's things. Really, he just wants to get home and crawl in the nearest corner to hide away. He has no idea how he's going to tell Louis that he just got fired from a job Louis had indirectly helped get, but he also doesn't know what to say to him since the two of them had a pretty heated argument last night. Harry hasn't even seen Louis since last night, and Louis hasn't bothered trying to talk to him at all today so Harry really isn't sure how Louis is going to react once he hears about Harry's mishaps today. Harry groans again as he walks over to grab his bag from his desk, but as he takes a step to head over there, grimly hands are pressing to his back and sending him down on the ground again. 

"It's about time you fucking left this place," Craig grumbles, lazily kicking at Harry's side and smirking when he doubles over in pain. "Fag."

Craig leaves shortly after with another kick to Harry's side, and he's walking out with an echoing laugh that soon gets silenced with a weak whine coming from Harry. Harry rolls on to his back for a moment and looks up at the ceiling to calm his rapid heart down, but it feels like the room is closing in on him and theres no room for him to breathe at all. Everything that has been happening to Harry feels like it's just crashing down on him all at once, and Harry can't find a way to clear his mind to properly think. Harry quickly scrambles to his feet and grabs his bag, now officially running out his office and trudging his way through all the other workers so he can make it to the elevator without being questioned. Harry is crying harder than he's ever cried in years, and his eyes are so blurry with water that he can't see properly. His heart is beating so rapidly in his chest he feels like it's about to burst right out of his chest, and Harry's head is spinning so much right now that every part of his body is starting to hurt from it. 

Harry rushes to his car and quickly gets inside to belt out a loud sob that has his throat aching. His sides are currently hurting from where Craig had kicked him, and his back and stomach are stinging from his fall to the ground. Harry hiccups a couple of times and starts to irrationally pull out the car park to begin driving wherever it is he finds suitable for himself. Harry is full on hysterically crying, and he attempts to drive his way through the London traffic with his blurry vision, but it becomes a big task when all Harry wants to do is cry out to the sky. Harry removes one hand from the wheel to anxiously pull his phone out his bag to try and call Jake to see if he's anywhere near to help calm him down, but Harry ends up going straight to voicemail. Another sob belts out of Harry when that attempt fails, so he tries Niall next, briefly closing his eyes and squeezing more tears out when Niall's call goes to voicemail as well. Harry then tries Gemma and his mother, but both don't pick up either, and now Harry is feeling so absolutely defeated and alone, and he has no idea what he's going to do with himself. He's a crazed man driving through London, crying and sobbing as if his world is about to fall apart, which, Harry really believes it is. Harry feels at an all time fucking low, and he isn't even in a stable enough place with his own boyfriend to make him the first person he calls. Louis is actually the last one Harry attempts to talk to, and it's only because Harry is so deep into his emotions that he can't think rationally about the fact that he and Louis are currently in a fight. 

However, just like the other calls, he gets put to voicemail, and instead of hanging up and wrangling to find some else to call, Harry decides to finally vent out his feelings to the answering machine. 

"L-Louis, I'm sorry. I-I'm just ... " Harry pauses to hiccup, jerking his head from left to right so he can try to switch lanes without crashing. "I can't do this anymore. I'm so miserable, and sad, and I'm just - I'm a fuck up Louis. I don't know what to do. I don't know who I am. Please, I just, I need you, and I-I'm so lost right." Harry sobs into the phone again. "Craig hurt me, and I - I got fired. I fucking suck, and I mess up, and I hate myself - " Harry gasps when the car in front of him slams on his breaks, and Harry has to quickly react by swerving in another lane, yelping when the car he just cut off honks. Harry cries some more, but as he's pulling up to the stop light and finally finding a window to breathe, he sees Hyde Park coming into view, and it seems like the answer to all of Harry's problems are right there ahead of him. "I'm just - I'm sorry Louis." 

Harry hangs up his phone and tosses it in the passenger seat as he quickly accelerates over to the closest parking spot near the park. Once he gets parked, Harry scrambles his way out the vehicle and starts walking his way across the sidewalk. He knows he must look ridiculous with his tear stained face and his loud, pitiful cries, but right now, Harry can't seem to care. All he can think about is going to the bridge and finding his peace like he used to do whenever he got upset. It's the last lingering thought in the back of his mind that Harry holds on to, and he thinks he's in the clear when he notices that there's barely anybody else in the park, however, as Harry is crying and rushing over to the bridge, his blurred vision gets the best of him, and he ends up bumping right into another body. 

It really is such a shitty day.

"Wow, what do we have here?" the body questions, and Harry tries his hardest not to let more tears fall at the familiar sound of the voice, but he can't help himself when he notices that it's Flynn who he had just ran into. 

Harry closes his eyes and steps back, heart racing in his chest and body feeling numb. "Please, leave me alone," he begs, so weakly and so desperate, ferociously rubbing at his eyes to make the tears stop, but they just seem to keep on coming. 

"You know, I never pegged Louis to be with someone who cries so damn much," Flynn teases, smirking as he nudges Harry's shoulder. Harry sniffles, shaking his head because he really doesn't want to hear any more. "But then again, I don't think either of us know Louis as much as we think we do." 

"Stop it," Harry cries, chest burning from the lack of air, head pounding, heart rabbiting. 

"No, I mean, it's true," Flynn continues with a laugh. "Do you even know what he said to me on our last night together - the last time we had sex? I bet you never thought Louis could tell someone else the words he whispers to you alone, but you're clearly mistaken. You don't know Louis at all."

Harry lets out a shaky breath and continuously blinks the tears away, but they seem to keep coming, everything is so blurry, and he really can't breathe right now. Harry's toes currently feel numb, and his skin feels on fire. Right now would probably be a good time for the ground beneath him to open up and swallow him whole, but instead, he's stuck where he's standing, and he's so close to the fucking bridge that it feels so fucking far away, and if Flynn doesn't actually let him go soon, Harry might have a bigger break down than the one he's currently having. 

"You know, Louis promised me the whole world. He told me he loved me in a way that he's never loved before. That last night we spent together lasted for _hours_ , and then you know what he did?" Flynn steps into Harry's space now, pushing at his shoulder again and watching as Harry clumsily stumbles over his feet. "He did what he does to everyone. He left. He fucked me until he was bored, and then he left. If you think you're any special, you're wrong. I was with him for three years before he finally left me, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did the same thing to you. It isn't the first time he's done this to one of his fucks."

Harry is fucking losing his mind. He's always had his insecurities when it comes to his relationship with Louis, and he's really tried his hardest not to let Louis' past relationship define their current one, but to know that Louis had been with two people for three years and so easily left them behind was not helping Harry calm down at all. Harry and Louis are going on three years, and their relationship has been crashing and burning _for months_ , and now all Harry has on his mind is the fact that he's about to hit that three year mark with Louis before Louis moves on to find someone else. Harry can't handle it. He can't fucking handle anything right now, and he knew he should've just stayed in bed today. He knew he should've talked to Louis sooner instead of letting everything build up, and he knew he should've sprinted straight towards the bridge the minute he got out the car so he didn't have time to run into anybody. 

Harry doesn't realize that Flynn had left until he blinks his eyes to see that no one is actually standing in front of him. Harry coughs loudly as more tears stream down his face, but now that there's nothing in his way blocking him from the bridge, he finds himself starting to walk in that direction, picking up speed the closer he gets, up until the point where he's running right up to the bridge. Harry doesn't know what he plans to do or why he has this strong urge to be near the bridge, but the years where he's considered jumping off this thing finally come rushing back into his mind, and for once, he's actually considering it. Harry is actually letting the thought of embracing the free feeling he knows he'll get if he jumps off this thing that he starts to find himself pressing his hand on top of the edge of the railing, letting out a shaky breath and leaning over to look at how far the drop truly is.

It's not bad. 

So, Harry doesn't think. He lets his body take over his mind, and he's hoping, praying, believing that after he does this, he'll be able to search for that freedom he's always been so desperate to have. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Dun ....
> 
> Thoughts?


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, we are at the peak-ish of the drama. It does get sensitive moving forward into the chapters. You'll understand once you're reading. As far as Harry's mental health, I believe this one and the previous chapter were at it's worst so in the upcoming chapters it's other sensitive content that will be discussed. Of course, I'll remind you guys again about being cautious about reading. I want everyone to feel safe even though I am putting this out there for people to read. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy (: Don't hate me too much heheh.
> 
> This chapter is also ALL over the place so YAY!

So much can happen in the span of year - hell, so much can happen in the span of ten years, but it all seems the same when it comes crashing down in one instant. 

See, Harry thought he had it good early in his life. He had a steady relationship with his mother and his sister, and he had a civil enough relationship with his father that family dinners weren't the most unbearable thing to endure. Of course, Harry knew there was some underlying problem in his household whenever he heard his mother and father staying up late to argue, or when he noticed Des only spending time to tuck Gemma into bed instead of him as well. There was always _something_ that kept Harry from fully being happy, and it seemed like this continued over as the years went on. His household was truly unsteady. Anne and Des were not in love, and they did not have a happy marriage. Their marriage was mainly rushed due to Gemma being surprise for the both of them, and they had the kind of relationship where they felt obligated to be with one another only because they had children together. They held on to this life for so many years until it was Harry who was being born. At first, everything seemed to be going well for the first few years of Harry's life, but when Harry finally started to show what his true interest were, there was that _something_ coming in the way of letting him actually enjoy anything. 

Harry liked being outside, but he didn't like to play sports. He preferred to be in the garden with his mother and sister rather than in the mud where the other boys would play. Harry wanted to use his imagination when it came to playing by using dolls and other objects he could bring to life with his mind. He never took part in video games, and he never really got into things Des wanted him to get in to. Harry wanted to cook and learn how to braid hair rather than getting dirty or climbing trees. What Harry did was a stark contrast to what Des wanted for him, and it's what caused the biggest problem inside of their household. Des was that _something_ that kept Harry from every truly being happy, and it always seemed to sneak up behind him right when Harry thought he would find a window of enjoying himself. 

The first time Des ever laid a hand on Harry, Harry knew his life meant nothing. Harry let Des hit him because instead of looking at girls, Harry was looking at boys, and he didn't know any better than to ever go against what his father had told him. It was one hit that turned into one too many, and it was the start to the panic attacks that Harry would get from always worrying if he was ever doing the right thing. Harry drew this rational fear inside his head that people were always watching him and judging him. Des made Harry feel like he had nothing to be proud of and everything to be ashamed of. Because of Des, Harry always let what other people think get the best of him because if his own father never saw anything good from him, then he knew that no one else could as well. It's no wonder why Harry tries to hide himself away and seek the attention of those closest to him. It's stable and it's safe. 

The day that Anne found the first bruise on Harry's body, it was a cold rainy night, a Sunday to be exact. It had been the first week of school, and Harry came back talking about his art class and how much he enjoyed painting while Des sat at the table drinking a cold one. The only time Harry ever got excited was when he was expressing himself in any way through art. He loved to paint and draw in his art class, and it was the only way he could actually show off what his father had tried so hard for him to hide. Well, that night, it seemed to be the final straw for everyone. Des had dragged Harry to his room, slapped the boy across the face for not being masculine, for being _too feminine_ , and then walked away, leaving Harry sitting on the floor with a bruised cheek and teary eyes. Anne had come rushing into the room shortly after hearing the sound echoing across the house. It seemed like she already had suspicion to Des' behavior considering she had bags packed and hidden under her bed. That was the night she grabbed both Gemma and Harry from Des', and she never thought to look back once. That was when they left, and that was when Anne divorced Des. 

But then again, right when Harry thought he was finally free to be himself and feel any ounce of happiness since separating from his father, he went up a grade in school. The older he got, the more he discovered just how truly mean his classmates were. Everyone in Cheshire was ruthless, and Harry had this small period of time where he would get constantly picked on and teased for the things he liked and did, much like what Des did to him - truly a sad reminder to Harry that he had absolutely everything to be ashamed of. Harry had the curly hair and the bright green eyes, more feminine than what most guys looked like. Harry preferred the brighter clothing choices and to participate in art rather than sports. All these little things, plus the fact that Harry hung out with his little cousin, was the fuel to the fire his classmates needed. They all knew Harry would rather hang out with children than to make friends his own age, and they constantly teased him for it as well. The problem was that none of his classmates knew about Claire and her condition, and none of them knew how much it meant to his cousin that he chose to spend his days with her rather than with people who never focused on the good things in life. Harry was with Claire because it made her happy, because most of her days were spent getting treated or visiting the hospital so if Harry could be that small ray of sunlight for such a young child, then he was going to do. Claire loved flowers and making crowns and wearing them, so of course Harry would pick up that hobby just for her. Harry does just about anything Claire asks him to because he wants there to be no regrets when it comes to her happy life. So when Claire wanted Harry to show off the first flower crown she had made him, Harry was obviously going to comply. His classmates already teased him. They knew he hung out with his little cousin, and they knew he liked flowers so he had nothing to lose when it came to the crown. Really, there should have been no surprise to any of it. 

Boy, Harry was sure wrong.

Even though Claire brought his better days, it still seemed like just as worse ones had to follow. 

So after the incident at Harry's school, Anne ended up moving from Cheshire once she was aware of the harassing and teasing that Harry endured. It worked out because Claire moved to Manchester, and Anne's work was offering her a position in London. This was another moment where Harry had the brief relief of being free from his past, and when he met Niall, he finally felt that ounce of happiness he had been searching for. Harry really thought he was about to have this storybook perfect life he was always reading about, but then there was Tanner. Tanner came into Harry's life, all sweet and interested, and Harry was fooled into thinking a boy like Tanner would actually want to be with a boy like Harry. Harry still doesn't know why Tanner chose him, but he did, and it seemed like the only thing Tanner ever wanted out of the relationship was sex, and at the time, Harry was too young for it. All Harry wanted was something stable and comfortable. He had Niall, his best friend he could talk to, but he wanted a boyfriend he could have cuddled and occasionally kissed. Instead, Harry got a boy who nearly took advantage of him and who continued to harass him for what he didn't want to give. Fuck, everything just seemed to continue with this constant cycle of Harry getting his hopes crushed by _something_ , and it seemed to continue when Harry was fooled with the chance of being happy when he finally met Louis. Granted, this happiness did last longer than any of the others, but of course, just like every thing else, Harry hit that moment where this _something_ popped in and took away anything that could make Harry feel hopeful. For the first time in Harry's life, he did get to know what being loved felt like. He finally had the person who could kiss him and make it feel like all the stars and moon were aligning just for him. Louis had a touch that made Harry feel like he was floating on air, and Louis had the kind of love that made Harry feel like he was the only person in the world. Harry was happy he finally got that. He finally got the boyfriend he could kiss and cuddle and love. He had his comfort and his safety. He had Louis. 

But, well, _something._

The something was the fans. The something was the paparazzi. The something was Jake. The something was Regina. The something was Craig. The something was work. The something was football. The something was always crossing paths with his boyfriend. The something was jealousy. The something was arguments. The something was secrecy. The something was ex relationships coming to get in the way of things. The _something_ was just too much for Harry that it was no surprise all his _somethings_ had finally come crashing down on him.   
  
  


Louis doesn't know what in his right mind told him to take off towards Hyde Park after practice, but the second he heard the hysterics in Harry's voicemail, he had a gut wrenching feeling that told him to go exactly there. Louis had pulled up to the side of the park and saw the last bit of the conversation Harry was having with some stranger, and after the stranger had walked the other way to leave Harrys standing there in utter tears, Louis immediately saw where Harry's body had been facing. The fucking bridge. 

Louis felt his entire world collapsing when he saw his hysterically crying boyfriend nearly running his way to a bridge that Louis has had previously scary thoughts of Harry actually jumping off of. There had been moments when Louis would show up and find Harry looking over the railing of the bridge seemingly contemplating if he should jump or not, and now that those exact moments are currently happening right now, Louis really feels like a knife is slicing right through his heart. Louis had never ran so fast in his life as he did just now trying to beat Harry to the bridge. He didn't care what exactly Harry had on his mind or what he was actually planning to do, but the second Louis got within reaching distance of the boy, he wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and pulled him harshly against his chest, trapping Harry there without any way of escaping. Harry's safe. He's on his feet. He's in Louis' arms, and he has no way of jumping off any bridge now. 

"Harry, stop, please," Louis begs when Harry puts up some resistance, now feeling his own wave of tears rushing to his eyes. He nearly drags Harry completely away from the bridge until they are off to the side in a patch of grass, and now that he knows he has Harry in his reach without any way of returning to the bridge, Louis finally lets go and turns Harry to face him, wide, blue eyes searching Harry's face as if he's looking for some sort of damage. Harry's face is so splotched red though, from all the crying that he has and is currently doing. His green eyes are dull and pained, and as Louis tries looking into them to see if there is anything he can search for, all he sees is tears. 

"I-I-I wasn't," Harry hiccups, bottom lip trembling as another fucking wave of tears rushes to him. 

Louis opens his mouth to say something, but its' in that moment he has no idea what to fucking do. He just left the stadium in a rush to come find Harry that he didn't even stop to consider anyone helping him in this situation. Harry is panicking worse than he's ever panicked before, and he's not sure what he can say or do to make anything better. 

"Harry?" Louis finally questions, swallowing nervously when Harry bring his hands to his face to try and hide away. "I'm going to take you home, okay? We need to go home. I need you to breathe, too, okay? You're safe with me."

Harry doesn't respond, but Louis takes it as a good sign when he wraps his arms around Harry and Harry's first instinct is to cave himself into Louis' hold. Louis sighs as he begins walking the two of them across the park as incognito as he could get. He's lucky theres not a lot of people out today, and with Harry's head tucked into the side of his neck and his arms wrapping around Harry's body, it really doesn't look too suspicious about what's going on with him, which is what Louis wants. He really doesn't want any lingering fans to catch the events that are unfolding. It does seem like all the havoc before Harry got into Louis' arms is gone, and there's not much else that they are drawing attention to, thankfully. Harry is still crying, and he's now getting snot and tears all over Louis' shirt, but Louis is too focused on getting Harry home rather than what Harry has coming out his nose. Louis does manage to get Harry in the passenger seat of the car, and immediately, Harry curls in on himself and continues to cry some more. Louis tries his best to continue comforting Harry by keeping a hand on his body or brushing through his curls while he drives home, but it seems to get harder and harder when Harry's emotions start to fully take over his body and he has no way of controlling how he's feeling. It seems like the best Harry can do is cry, and there's nothing strong enough to actually make him stop. 

Once Louis does manage to get the two of them back to the flat, he guides Harry over to the couch and helps sit him down on the cushion. Harry has reduced his hysterical crying down to small hiccups and little sobs, but his face is drenched in so much tears that Louis doesn't think he'll ever get Harry to fully stop. Louis sighs as he takes a seat next to Harry, scooting as close as he can to the boy before he's reaching across and gently taking a hold of his face, turning Harry so they can look at each other. 

"Harry, what's going on? I need you to talk to me."

Harry closes his eyes and shakes his head, wiping harshly at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I-I wasn't going t-to," he whimpers, not finding anything else to say.

Louis doesn't know if he feels any relief at the small reassurance that Harry never intended on jumping, but from what it looked like when Louis had first shown up to the park, there really was a brief second where Harry's life did flash before his own eyes. Louis had never been so scared before with just that small glimpse of fear crossing his mind. It was like a truck had rammed it's way through his chest and knocked out all his will to breathe when he saw his crying boyfriend heading over to a bridge that he's previously feared Harry would jump off of. Everything just feels too emotional right now, and Louis is way out of his element in trying to figure out how to help Harry because it seems like Harry's issue goes way beyond a panic attack, and Louis really doesn't know what to say or do to make him feel better. The adrenaline he original felt in trying to get Harry safe is slowly wearing off, and now that Louis' mind can finally be clear from any crazy thoughts running through it and he has his boyfriend in the safety of their home, Louis can properly look at Harry and genuinely see what is actually going on with Harry. Harry is sad - depressed. He's broken and hurt. There's even a cut on Harry's arm that has blood oozing out, and Louis has no fucking idea how that has even gotten there. He notices Harry's labored breathing, and he's not sure if it's due to the crying of if there is something else bothering him because it seems like every time Harry jolts a certain way, he winces at an unknown pain so now Louis is wondering what the actual hell had happened to Harry today since he left the flat this morning. 

"O-Okay, Harry, you're bleeding. We need to go to the bathroom so I can cover the cut up. I'm going to take you with me, okay?" Louis doesn't wait for a response. He stands on his feet and slowly helps Harry up as well, and he can finally see how much pain Harry truly is in when he groans and winces at the movement. Louis tries his best to be gentle as he walks the two of them over to the bathroom. He knows the cut on Harry's arm needs to be addressed, but now that Harry has issues somewhere on his chest, Louis is now slightly worried about the possibility of any ribs being broken. He really hopes that's not the case, but it seems like Harry is in pain when he breathes or moves, and now that Louis is highly aware of every little thing going on with Harry, he notices there's a slight limp to his walk. 

Fuck, this is a fucking crazy day.

"Harry, what happened to you?" Louis questions once he gets Harry sitting on top of the toilet lid. He takes a step back and looks Harry up and down, completely in shock at how damaged he seems. 

Harry closes his eyes and covers his face, hiccuping under his breath. "Leave me alone."

"Harry, no, I'm not going to leave you. You need me right now." Louis takes a slow step closer to Harry and tries to place a gentle hand on him, but the second Harry feels his close proximity, he uncovers his face and pushes Louis away, slightly frantic and slightly panicky. 

"No. No. No. Please, just no," Harry mutters out in hysterics. He stands up on his feet and tries to step over to the counter in a rushed movement, but he feels a sharp pain shoot through his body that ends up making him collapse against the sink. Harry groans and wraps an arm around his stomach, breathing heavily when the pain of where Craig had kicked him starts to weigh him down. "I just - I don't want to - I need to be - I just - I c-can't and I ... " Harry closes his eyes and bites down on his bottom lip, eyes clenching shut and just squeezing so tightly to do whatever he can to alleviate the pain that's taking over his whole body. 

Louis lets out a shaky breath. "You're still bleeding. We need to cover it."

Harry opens his eyes again and glances at his arm, sure enough covered in the blood that he's refusing to pay any attention to. "I don't want to," Harry finally says, sniffling, tears building up in his eyes again. Harry lets out a sob as he turns around to rest his back against the counter, finally glancing up at Louis with so much sadness and hurt that it really makes Louis' heart break. "I-I don't want this. I hate it here. I-I-I just want to be happy, and I get this. I hurt every day now, and I just want it to stop."

"Harry," Louis breathes out shakily, his own eyes clouding with tears. "I got to be honest. You're scaring me."

Harry diverts his eyes to the ground, one arm tightening around his body while the other grips the edge of the counter. "I just want to be happy. I can't even be happy."

It's one of the hardest things for Louis to witness, seeing the love of his life so stripped bare right in front of him. This isn't like those times where Harry has been upset for their long days of being separated or the constant nagging he faces when it comes to their relationship. No, the underlying problem to why Harry is utterly broken runs way deeper than Louis has ever witnessed before, and it honestly brings him back to a time, three years ago, to a similar situation he saw Harry in. Back then, Harry couldn't handle the pressure of their relationship, and now, it seems like the same thing. The only difference is that Harry is uttering words that Louis never thought he would ever hear Harry say, and he's genuinely fearful for what thoughts are currently running through Harry's head. This has to be a build up of weeks, months, days of Harry constantly feeling so defeated, and now that it's completely piled up on top of him, Harry can't do anything but finally let it all out. Louis' heart fucking hurts from it. 

"Why aren't you happy?" Louis questions, gulping, not even minding that he is too crying alongside Harry. 

Harry closes his eyes again and slowly lowers himself to the ground until he's sitting, leaning back against the sink cabinets and tilting his head towards the ceiling. "I'm alone," he whispers, a tear rolling down his cheek that Louis watches until it's dripping off his chin. "I-I have nobody." Harry goes to wrap an arm around himself again, but this time, the pressure he puts against his stomach causes him to yelp out in pain. 

"Harry, please, let me help you," Louis begs, nearly whining. Louis crouches down and reaches for Harry's shirt to take off his body, but Harry immediately kicks his feet out to stop Louis from touching him. 

"Stop it. Don't touch me."

Louis' eyes widen, placing his hands out in front of him. "I'm not going to hurt you, love," he reassures gently, moving his hand out slowly again and reaching for the arm Harry is bleeding from. Harry blinks and watches him carefully, breath coming out ragged and choppy. "You're in a lot of pain, and I need to do something before we make it any worse."

Harry nods his head slowly as if to tell Louis that he trust him. Louis doesn't really understand it or where this sudden hesitation from Harry came from, but he does make sure he moves slowly and carefully. He knows Harry must be in shock with everything that is going on, and since Louis still doesn't know what the main cause to this shit day was, he wants to make sure he doesn't make matters worse. Louis starts by grabbing some toilet paper to wipe off the blood that's already smeared all over Harry's arm. He's gotten some on his clothes and on the cabinets, but Louis pays no mind to that. Louis tries putting pressure on the cut to keep the blood from oozing out, and once he sees that the amount of liquid starts to minimize, he reaches for a couple bandaids to cover the cut up. Louis breathes a little better knowing that there's no more blood coming out and no potential chance of the wound getting infected. It's one simple thing that can easily be marked off the list of things Louis needs to take care of. Once Louis assures the cut is handled, Louis knows it's time to address the pain Harry is feeling over his abdomen. 

"I'm going to take your shirt off, okay? You seem hurt on your chest, and I need to see if there are any more cuts or bruises that formed." 

Harry looks like he's about to start crying again, and he tries to protect himself from his shirt coming off by wrapping his arms around his body, but again, he's hit with a wave of pain. 

"Baby, it's just me, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to do anything to you. I just want to see what's going on. I'll be careful. It's just you and me, okay?"

Harry doesn't respond this time, only stares at the wall behind Louis with a blank stare on his face. Louis lets out another breath and figures if Harry isn't going to put up resistance, then he can proceed to take Harry's shirt off. He knows he won't be able to actually lift it over Harry's head if he's in too much pain to move, and now that Harry is sitting on the ground calming down from his break down, Louis really doesn't want to trigger anything else. Louis decides to cut Harry's shirt, knowing very well that it's the only way to get it off without actually hurting the boy, and if Harry really does have bruises or a broken rib, then this will be his safest bet to not jostling any further damage. Louis places a hand on Harry's thigh and leans over to one of the sink cabinets to find a pair of scissor they keep stored there. Just as Louis opens the door to one of the cabinets, he immediately freezes when he sees that there are various carvings in the wood of the door. There are tally marks, similar to the one that Louis had found in Harry's old bathroom three years ago. The same ones that Harry used to do when he felt the need to cut. Louis feels his heart shattering into a million pieces as he sees all the intricate carvings in the door, hating how he never actually took the time to notice just how sad Harry had been getting. If Louis would have just noticed, or actually used the sink cabinets, then he could have prevented anything from ever getting this far, but now, it seems like he's just too late.

Louis lets out a breath as he traces his finger over one of the tallies, eyes watering up almost instantly. "Harry," he whispers under his breath, shaking his head because he just couldn't believe he let Harry go back to this. "W-why?" Louis gulps, not even sure he knows how to ask. He blinks his eyes over to Harry and sees that he's staring at him, now wiped from any emotions he had just been previously showing. 

"Because I can't do it to myself," is what Harry says under his breath, so quiet that Louis would've missed it had he not been so intently focused on Harry. 

Louis closes his eyes and tries his hardest not to break down himself. He knows he has other pressing matters at hand other than Harry's bad habit coming back up so Louis quickly reaches for the scissors, shuts the cabinet door, and turns back to Harry, opting to just not make any further comments regarding the tallies. "I'm going to cut your shirt. It's probably the safest thing to do right now, okay?"

Harry's bottom lip trembles, but he still doesn't make a comment. 

Louis again takes that as his sign to continue, and so he does. He scoots forward and rests flat on his knees so he can start to cut down Harry's shirt. He constantly flicks his gaze from the scissors to Harry's face to make notice of any discomfort coming from the boy, but Harry is back to silently sniffling and staring blankly at the wall. Once Louis gets the shirt cut open, he sets the scissors on top of the counter and then pushes Harry's shirt apart so he can expose his chest. He sees that there is a huge bruise forming across his abdomen right under his pecs, and it looks to be traveling all around his side and down his waist. The bruise is a bright red, but there is already some purple forming around the area. Louis gasps upon seeing the damage and quickly covers his mouth with a free hand, utterly speechless that Harry had been walking around with a bruised up torso. He had to have something wrong with his ribs if the bruise was anything to go by. Whether Harry had bumped into something or been hit, there is no way his ribs didn't come out of that unharmed. 

"Harry," Louis finally breathes out, shaking his head in disbelief, wanting so badly to trace over every hurt piece of skin and replace it with tender care but having to refrain from doing so. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Harry blinks his eyes over to Louis and sighs, slouching against the counter, finally looking defeated and over it. "Louis," Harry responds quietly, shaking his head as well. "I-I cant do this anymore."

Louis chokes when he hears the crack in Harry's voice, and he quickly looks up to see Harry's green eyes looking back at him as if he's just giving up on everything. Those words hurt. Louis isn't entirely sure what Harry means by it, but the way Harry speaks them, it seems like Harry including Louis in that statement, and that's something Louis is not ready to hear. No matter what all the bullshit that has been going on, this is something he is not prepared for. 

"W-what do you mean?" Louis questions hesitantly, already feeling emotional again. 

Harry swallows and tries his best to straighten up against the counter, insecurely covering his chest with the cut opened shirt. "I can't do this anymore," He repeats clearly. "I can't cut. I can't jump. I can't do this. I can't do that. I can't be happy. I can't be alone. I can't be with you ... I just can't do this anymore."

"Harry, don't say that, come on," Louis begs, desperately, on the verge of crying. 

"How can I be happy with you if I'm not even happy with myself?" Harry huffs when Louis has to look away, seemingly trying his hardest to prevent the tears from actually falling, but they still do. Harry can see Louis breaking down right in front of him, and as much as he hates making Louis feel this way, he has to put himself first. "Do you know how I have felt these past months, Louis? I've been miserable. I can't be happy when I'm with you, and I can't be happy when I'm without you. I'm at this point where everything makes me upset, and I just feel so fucking miserable." Harry sniffs and wipes under his eyes. "Your fans hate me. Your ex-boyfriend wants to come in between us. Regina over works me and treats me like shit. Craig literally hurts me. You hate my friendship with Jake even though he's the only person I get to actually talk to. I never get to see or talk to Niall anymore. I don't have my sister or my mother by my side anymore, and you ... " Harry pauses to hiccup in a big breath. "We don't see each other anymore, Louis, and it hurts me. It hurts me to know that you can't defend me in front of your fans just to make me feel better. It hurts me that you let Flynn walk back into your life so easily, and it hurts me to know that all we do is argue now - we argue about the same things everyday and it makes me so miserable because all I wanted to do was spend more time with you, and we couldn't even do that. I haven't even seen you since last night because of our fight, and I can't do this anymore, Louis. I want to be able to be the person who doesn't care what other people think, but I can't. I just can't. I care too much. I can't keep feeling like this. I'm so miserable, and I hate this life that I'm living and I think that - I think maybe we should just ... " 

Harry stops before actually saying the words, making Louis' heart beat nearly right out if his chest. 

"Please, don't say it," Louis whispers under his breath, closing his eyes and refusing to believe this reality is about to happen. "I don't think I can handle it if you say it," Louis adds on, slowly blinking his glossy eyes open. 

"I just can't do this anymore, Louis."

Louis deflates. "I know, Harry."

**//**

It's been a long month, and they're broken up. 

Harry had to make a lot of changes to his life since he walked out of Louis' place. For one, he needed help. Harry needed a person he could turn to talk about all the issues that seem to pile up for him. The biggest problem with Harry is that he never had a person to talk about his past with, and that has caused a build up of problems in his life. It's no wonder why Harry finally felt like he was tipping over since he had no one to express all these hidden feelings to. So, Harry started seeing a therapist. He's already felt better since he began explaining his past to someone. He's only ever told the summary of his old life in Cheshire to Louis, never the full details of it, but with Barnes, Harry feels very comfortable to say everything out loud. Barnes has been a big help in Harry recovering his happiness. Barnes has really focused on the things that do make Harry feel happy and relaxed and brushing aside those things that bring him down. Activities like nail painting, photography, and flower crown making are all these things that Harry does to relieve stress, and that's something Barnes really wants Harry to focus on. He wants Harry to surround himself with people who build him up, not tear him down. He wants Harry to never get in contact with Regina, Craig, or Flynn, for the matter, and he wants Harry to really put himself in an environment that can help him flourish. Everything Harry has tried to push aside for years is what Barnes is now trying to bring out, and within this quick month of having a few sessions, Harry already loves the sessions he has with his therapist. So far, Harry has deleted his Twitter, has blocked all the known haters on Instagram, made his Instagram private, started Yoga and a little bit of boxing, moved temporarily in with his mother, got in contact with Matt to resume his job as a photographer while Matt travelled with some players for the football tour, and has given himself space from Louis. It's been hard to handle and adjust to, but Harry has managed to do it. 

Harry is currently at one of his sessions now, having just finished a conversation about his old job with Regina and some of the comments Craig always made to him. It then lead into another conversation about how Harry always felt self conscious when it came to what he wore or how he appeared to others. He mentioned all the times he would hear his classmates making comments about the way he was dressed or the feminish ways he would present himself. Harry knows he's gotten better as the year progressed, but instead of building up his confidence about it like Barnes wants, he's just learned to bury it and never think about it again. Not good, but well, Barnes is working on it. 

"One day," Harry says, idly twirling the necklace he has around his neck. He hasn't worn it in a long time, especially since he and Louis broke up, but the necklace reminds him of Claire, and the Lily pendant is a symbol of Harry's favorite flower so he figured he needs to start embracing it more by wearing it around and enjoying the way it looks hanging off his chest. Harry smiles a little. "One day, I don't want to worry about what other people think of me. I don't want to care." 

"With what?" Barnes questions, tapping his pen against the edge of the paper. 

"My hair, for example. It's getting longer. I like it, but I don't want to have to worry if others think it looks too girly." Harry swallows, looking down at his lap. "Or my nails. I like painting my nails, but I've been scared to have them painted in public. People will call me gay or other names like that, and it's not - It's not why I paint them. I just like having color on them."

Bernie smiles. "That's good, Harry. If you like your hair longer, then you need to let it grow as long as you like. I'm proud of you for holding it out and not cutting it. As for your nails, I see they're painted today. It's improvement - it's great. You have your reasons as to why you like certain things, and the more you embrace it and be confident about it, the more others will accept it."

"I painted them last night. Normally I wipe the color off in the morning, but ... I was feeling them today." Harry stretches his arm out in front of him and admires the pink nail polish. "I actually haven't worried at all today if someone would notice them. I was more excited for what color I would be painting them next."

"Stuff like that - it's good to find the positives in. With your longer hair, thing of all the new styles you get to try. Maybe braids, or buns, or headbands - so many possibilities that you get to explore. Same with your nails and the new designs you get to do. It's wonderful." Barnes writes down a brief note on his paper and then looks back at Harry. "I see you're wearing a blouse today. How do we feel about our wardrobe now?"

"I feel good," Harry smiles brightly. "I like blouses, and the tight and flared jeans. I like boots and jewelry. I've been feeling really good in the clothes I've been wearing lately."

"You should be proud of yourself, Harry. We've only had a months worth of sessions, and you already gain so much confidence. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah," Harry sighs, soon deflating in his seat, picking at his nails as he watches his shoes rubbing together. "I still feel like shit about some things."

Barnes frowns, humming. "Like what?"

"Like Louis." Harry blows out a big breath and finally picks his head up. "I'm sometimes wondering if breaking up with him was actually the best thing for me to do. I miss him, all the time, and I made him so sad that day. He cried, and I felt bad. I feel bad. I regret it, a lot."

"You know, if two people are meant to be together - like really be together - then they'll always find their way back to each other. I think you and Louis will find your way back to one another when the time is right." 

Harry raises an eyebrow. "You think?"

"Sometimes, Harry, we have to put our self first, and that includes our mental health. You took a big step with the break up because you were at a point where you couldn't even make Louis happy. It's a big responsibility to go through a break down and then turn around and get help. That's great. I think it's brilliant that you want to work on restoring your happiness before you get back in a relationship. It's a very hard thing to do, but some times, it's just not the right time for two people to be together. If you two needed this break in order to restore who you are outside of the relationship, then do it. Let's have Harry be Harry again before he can be Louis' Harry."

Harry sighs, "Our friend, Zayn, he told me that Louis is blaming himself for everything and that he's been super worked up about the whole thing. I know I'm supposed to take this small break away from Louis, but I've been texting Zayn because I just have to know how he's doing. It turns out he's not doing so well either. I don't think Louis has even left his house yet, and he's supposed to be going on a football camp soon. I'm just worried. I didn't want my happiness to be at the expense of his."

"Louis will understand, he does understand. He's just going through a heart break as well, but if you want to talk to him to clear the air between the two of you, I think it would be a good time to finally do that, especially if he's going away for a couple months."

"I can do that," Harry agrees, nodding his head. "Maybe I'll visit him before he leaves just so I'm not worrying about him while he's gone. I want him to enjoy his trip while I enjoy learning about my happiness."

It's a small step for Harry, but really, it's a big step in him getting better. 

//

Louis has the last of his bags packed before the car comes to pick him up. He has minutes before he meets some of the other teammates at the stadium and the group of them taking off on the football tour that Chelsea is having. Ever since the break up with Harry, Louis has really been looking forward to the time he will be spending with traveling and teaching the younger kids how to play footie. It's something Louis needs right now in a time where his heart is trying to heal. It's only been a month, and Louis already feels the giant hole in his heart that formed ever since Harry had walked out his door. So yeah, Louis needs the distraction of the camp to help mend his sadness. 

There's a knock on Louis' front door that halts him from packing up the last of his things. He makes sure to his phone to see if it's time for him to go, but he knows he still has half an hour left so he's unsure of who it could be at the door visiting him. Louis sets down the bag he's putting his bathroom supplies in and walks out his bedroom, walking over to the door and swinging it open. Louis freezes when the door unveils a curly headed boy standing. 

"Harry?" Louis breathes out, slightly surprised and shocked. It's been a month since the last time they saw each other, and honestly, Louis wasn't sure when the next time he would actually be seeing the boy again. 

Harry glances up from where he was looking at the ground, smiling shyly, arm wrapping around his waist like a safety net while he uses the other to wave at Louis. "Hi, Louis," Harry greets quietly, nervously. 

"W-What are you doing here?" Louis swings the door open a little wider, stepping to the side and motioning for Harry to walk through. "Come in."

Harry smiles bashfully as he steps inside the flat, glancing around the area as if he's looking for any change. "I remembered that you were leaving today," Harry responds, turning around once he's inside and leaning up against the back of the couch after he walks over to it. "I just wanted to say bye."

Louis' face softens, heart picking up speed in his chest. "Oh," he breathes out, lips curving up. "That's ... lovely. I did fancy seeing you before I left. I just wasn't sure, you know?"

"You wanted to see me?" Harry questions, sounding so shocked at the thought of Louis actually wanting to be near him. 

Louis laughs, shaking his head. "Yeah, Harry. You've become one of my best friends over the years if I'm being honest." 

"We're still friends?"

Louis bites his lip. "We were friends before we got together so I was kind of hoping we could still be friends even if everything is over. I'm not really sure I want to lose you like that."

"You haven't lost me," Harry whispers under his breath, cheeks heating up as he glances down at the ground, now going back to be all shy and bashful. Harry crosses his leg over the other and brings his hands out in front of him, tangling his fingers together and nervously nibbling on his bottom lip before he's glancing back at Louis. "If I haven't completely lost myself then you haven't completely lost me."

That's a pretty good reassurance for Louis. 

"That's good to hear, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry smiles, letting out a breath of air and slowly stepping away from the couch. "Well, I guess I better go. I don't want to hold you up or anything - just wanted to say bye."

Harry walks past Louis to make it to the front door, and Louis follows behind him. When Harry gets there, he opens the door up and turns around so he can face Louis one last time. There's an awkward silence as the two of them stand there face to face, not entirely sure what to do now that they are going their separate ways. It's not like they can really touch or kiss considering they are no longer together, but it had been long weeks since the last time they had contact, and Harry really hates how everything ended because he was too depressed to keep a hold of the happiness that is Louis. All Harry wants to do is pull Louis into a hug and promise that he's trying to get better. He wants to promise Louis that they'll be together again one day and that he won't care as much about the fans or the hate as he currently does, but he knows those are promises that he doesn't want to seal until he knows they've come true. So instead, all Harry does is step forward and actually give Louis a hug, wrapping his arms so tightly around Louis' neck and feeling the weight of all their problems slowly start to lift off his shoulders. He feels even more relief when Louis' familiar arms go around his waist, dragging him in as if it's something he'll never get to do again. They both know things are different now, and this is the one hug that ensures the both of them that despite all the changes around them, the feelings they have for one another is the one thing that hasn't changed. 

"I'm really sorry, Harry," Louis ends up whispering against Harry's ear, breaking the silence that instilled since they started hugging. "I'm sorry for everything."

Harry leaves shortly after so he can get back to his house. He does plan on moving into Niall's flat soon until he can get back on his feet again, his mum is just helping him for the time being, so he needs to actually start packing up all the things from the house. He only stayed with Anne right after the break up because he needed a quick place to throw all his stuff and comfy a bed to sleep in, but now that Harry is trying to adjust to this new life he is wanting to live, he knows he needs to start by finding a place to live. For now, Niall's is a good start, but once he gets more money, he would like to find a flat for him. Harry gets to spend a few quiet hours alone in the peace of his house since Robin and Anne are at work, and he plans on boxing his things up so he can hopefully be prepared to move by the end of the month, but just as he starts getting the first box ready, he hears the doorbell go off. 

Harry frowns as he leaves his room to walk down the steps, not entirely sure who would be visiting him since everyone he knows is currently busy with their own lives. Harry lets out a breath as he reaches for the knob, slowly opening the door to see who's there, but upon noticing the visitor that standing on his porch, there's a sudden sinking feeling he has in the pit of his stomach that makes him want to fall on to the floor and curl up like a baby.

Harry fish mouths as he freezes in his spot, not doing anything other than standing there like a post. 

She blinks when Harry just stares. "Well, Hazmasta, aren't you going to invite me in?"

And fuck, Harry can't even speak properly or find a reason to be happy because the only reason why she would be here at Harry's house in the first place is because something had to haven gone wrong, and honestly, that's quite the last thing Harry can deal with right now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo I think it's very necessary that Harry started seeing a therapist. I know therapist can be a very big help when it comes to people who struggle with talking about their emotions and feelings, and it was about time Harry started working on this part of his mental health. Now, I wanted Harry's character to see a therapist, but I didn't want it to be a focal point in the story, so it's mainly going to be one of those things mentioned rather than going in on explicit detail about.
> 
> Is this a cliff hanger? I don't know. BUT WHO'S THERE?


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like so much happens in these chapters so sorry if it's crazy LOL. ps, this chapter is longer than most so whoops!
> 
> Also I don't know about the medical stuff so just go with the flow please.

The holidays were different this year. Harry's birthday was different this year. Everything is just different this year. Despite how crazy Harry's life now seems since being single and not seeing Louis _for months_ , he never thought he would have to deal with the issue of Claire dying, but well, the reality has finally hit Harry, and that moment is slowly starting to happen.

Claire had showed up at Harry's front door months ago, following up with the sad news that her medical treatment had been progressive failing in Manchester. It wasn't the best thing for Harry to hear after parting ways with Louis for a few months. Harry really wasn't the happiest when Claire, Jenna, and David showed up at his house with their bags in tow, telling Harry that visiting the medical center in London is their last hope for Claire's survival . It was sad, and Harry's heart was breaking more. All Harry wanted to do was focus on getting his happiness back, but now there's _something_ again that's holding him back from actually achieving this. So now that Claire is in town, Harry's been putting his focus into her, trying his best to make her days as joyous as it can be. It's a little bitter sweet and sad, but Harry knows there is a chance that Claire can have one bad day that puts her in the hospital for good, and that thought alone definitely makes Harry determined in spending as much time as he can with her. He doesn't want to think about the fact that she's dying or that his ex-boyfriend is traveling the country. Harry just doesn't want to think right now, but it's so hard not to when he's constantly seeing how sick and frail his little cousin is every day. 

Although Claire has been struggling with her life, she has been brightening up Harry's days. She has tried helping Harry distract himself from his break up with Louis, and she's done everything she can to reassure him that the two of them could have enough fun without any ex-boyfriends ruining the mood. Claire has always had a bubbly personality and such an optimistic outlook on life, and she's been doing a good job of wearing this off on Harry to help with his happiness. It's not the ideal way for Harry to recover his mental health, but he does love Claire for the effort she puts into trying to make him smile again. It's just definitely been a lot harder now that she comes to London looking for the last bit of help on her life. 

"Hello, earth to Harry?" 

Oh, right, Harry almost forgot that he had been walking through the park with Claire. 

He jumps at the suddenness of her voice and turns to look at her, smiling weakly when she starts laughing breathily. "Sorry, Claire Bear," Harry supplies, sighing as he slows their walk down to a stop. He has his arm looped through hers and ends up stepping them off the side walk so they can stay out of way from other passing park walkers. "I guess I got lost in my mind. Too much thinking, you know?"

"You're thinking about Louis again, aren't you?" Claire questions with a smile, raising her eyebrow in a testing way like she already knew the answer. 

Harry slouches, nodding his head slowly. "I am." 

"Have you talked to him since he left?"

Well, no, Harry hasn't had the chance to talk to Louis since he left for his football tour. In fact, Harry's been putting all his effort into holding everything together and not having another break down that remaining in contact with Louis just kind of got bypassed. Harry tries his best to talk about his worries with Barnes and really express the fear he has growing inside of him about Claire's potential demise, but it's getting harder and harder as the days go on. Harry knows he needs to talk things out with Barnes and not hold anything in, that's what his problem was in the past, but right now, it's hard for him to come to terms with everything that is going on and talking just seems like the last thing he wants to do right now. Harry wants to forget about all of it. 

"I haven't talked to him, no," Harry answers with a pout, huffing as he walks to take a seat on the park bench. 

Claire furrows her eyebrows and joins him, scowling as she nudges Harry's arm. "Why the bloody hell haven't you spoken to him Mr. Styles?" Claire coughs after the question, and Harry has to try his hardest not to blurt out that this is the reason why he hasn't had the chance to talk to Louis. "I guess I don't get it, Harry."

"What is there to get?"

"I've been quiet about it for awhile," Claire begins, to which Harry tilts his head to. Surprisingly, she hasn't made too many comments about the break up other than trying to take Harry's mind off of Louis, but every now and then, when Louis gets brought up but anyone, mainly Jenna and David who ask about him, Harry brushes it aside. Harry deflects everything regarding Louis and has made no attempt in talking to him, but at the same time, Louis hasn't put much effort in as well so Harry isn't sure what he's supposed to do. "If you still love him, why don't you try fixing things with him?" She finishes off with. 

Harry sighs as he slouches in his spot. "It's kind of complicated right now, Claire."

"Yeah, but Harry, you can easily uncomplicate things. You don't have to push him away just because you're scared. He's probably scared too, but after he said he wants to still be friends, you can't keep ignoring him. You'll give him the wrong impression."

Harry blinks his eyes when he feels tears starting to surface, and he quickly uses the back of his hand to wipe them away. "It's hard, Claire. He hasn't tried talking to me either so I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore. I'm trying to get better. I'm trying to be happy. I'm trying to do all these things, but it's just getting too hard."

Harry glances up from where he had dropped his gaze to his feet to see the bridge out in front of him. There's a small stop to Harry's heart when he gets a good reminder of the day he had his mental breakdown here. He remembered so clearly how scared Louis had been and how sure he was that Harry was going to jump. Harry himself didn't even know if he was going to or not. He kind of let his body take over his mind, and he just couldn't stop himself when every inch of him was begging to be closer to the bridge. For what it's worth, Harry is glad that he never got the opportunity to jump. Barnes has tried to encourage Harry to get outside the house more and spend some time with Claire at the park so he can let go of the painful memory he had at the bridge and hopefully replace it with better ones with his cousin. It sounded like a good idea, which is why Harry decided to bring Claire out to the park today. It wasn't too hot, and there wasn't too many people out. There were occasional passer-byers, and the two of them really enjoyed looking at all the fresh flowers that were beginning to bloom into season. 

"What's getting hard?" Claire asks after a second, reminding Harry that they were having a conversation before he let his mind start to wonder again. 

Harry sighs and glances back at her, trying not to let the fact that her new round of coughing really bothers him. "I _uh -_ " Harry swallows, waiting until Claire finishes before continuing. "I broke Louis' heart, you know, and it really broke mine as well. I never wanted to make him sad or guilty, but I did. I really thought getting my space from everything would be a good idea for me to, i don't know, get better, but I have regrets about it every day. I mean Barnes, my therapist, sees the break up with Louis in my favor, but it's hard for me to when all I do is miss him and want him. I constantly think about the face he made whenever I was actually breaking up with him, and it hurts me to know that I ever made him look like that. It's heart breaking. I'm heart broken, and it's all my fault, and I don't even know how I'm supposed to move on with being his friend without feeling like the absolutely most shittiest person in the world."

Harry covers his face with his hands when he feels the first tear fall, and then it's like a constant waterfall of tears streaming down his face because he's once again reminded of how sad and alone he is. Harry misses Louis, and he loves Louis, but he's so fucking scared about Claire right now that he's going crazy with what and how he should handle everything. It's honestly such a shit show in his life right now, and Harry doesn't even think Barnes can help him get better anymore. Barnes worked for a good bit, but with Claire in town, everything is just too overwhelming. 

"Hazza," Claire whispers carefully, frail, little arm coming around Harry's back so she can hug him gently. "I know it's hard. I know me being here doesn't make it any easier." Claire pauses when Harry sniffles, slowly pulling away so they can now properly look at each other. "But you can't keep letting yourself drown like this. You need people to help you. You need Louis to help. You're going through a difficult time right now, and I don't want you going through it alone. Don't push Louis away because you're scared - pull him in because you're scared. I really hate seeing the two of you separated when I know how much you two love each other. I have dreamed of being loved the way that Louis loves you."

Harry wipes under his eyes again, sniffing. "I hate seeing you like this, Claire, and that's what's hard for me to handle. I am scared. I'm very scared."

"What are you scared of?" Claire. 

"I'm scared of being alone - of what being alone does to me."

Claire smiles weakly. "You're not alone, Harry. You'll never be alone. I'll always be here with you. Always."

If only Harry could believe her words and hold them truthful to his heart. He wants to believe that he'll never be alone, and he wants to believe that Claire will always be there with him, but when there is a sudden gush of wind that breezes by the air of a near by smoker, it gets inhaled by Claire, the fumes of the cigarette smoke causing a major disruptance in her breathing that she ends up coughing harshly. Harry eyes widen in fear when he sees Claire hunching over to cough up blood, sounding as if she's choking on her own breath. He's heard her cough before, but never to this extent where it's coming out rough and dry. Her skin is instantly paling as she does so, and so much blood is now being spit up that Harry immediately pulls his phone out and dials the emergency number hoping they can quickly get to her. 

It's a sad moment of the truth when Harry realizes that the end is finally coming, and he lets out a gut wrenching sob when he's hit with this reality that no, Claire will not always be there with him. 

//

Louis lets out a sigh as he drops his bags by the front door, relieved that he is now back in his own place. It's been months of him constantly traveling to different hotels and spending long hours training little children with football. The tour was great, and Louis had a nice distraction with Liam and Zayn by his side every day, but really, Louis is glad he finally gets to sleep on a proper mattress again. He's glad to finally be home. Honestly, he's more than glad he finally gets to be alone and escape the constant nagging Zayn and Liam had given him almost every time they had a free day from camp. As much as Louis loved having his two best mates with him, he also resented it just a little when they tried to get Louis to party or escape his hotel room. The truth is, as much fun as Louis had doing the camp, he was just as miserable. 

Louis can easily put on a brave face once he ties his cleats on, but when he's hidden away in the secrecy of his hotel room, he lets all his emotions out. Louis didn't get one good nights sleep since the tour started because he was always thinking about Harry, and he was always crying over the broken heart he was still having. This year, he didn't have Harry by his side for the holidays, and he didn't have Harry to celebrate any birthdays with. They did all of that alone and broken up, and Louis really was not doing okay. Louis thought this tour would be a good distraction so he wouldn't be constantly thinking about the break up, but turns out, Louis spent more time scrolling through old photos of Harry on his phone and bugging Niall constantly to get any text updates about the boy than anything else. Louis couldn't catch a break when it came to him thinking about Harry because Harry was constantly on his mind. Louis wanted to make sure that Harry was doing okay and that he was getting better like he said he was. Louis wanted to know if Harry was smiling again and if he found a reason to laugh. Louis just wanted to know all these things because he missed his chance beforehand in trying to keep up with it. Now, Louis is regretful, and he still hates himself every day for Harry ever getting to such a low point in his life where he started cutting the cabinet door again. Louis doesn't think he could ever forgive himself for that one. 

Louis sighs at the empty flat he is currently standing in and leaves his bags at the door so he can walk into the living area. Upon reaching the couch, he instantly sees and old photo of him and Harry framed right next to the telly. Louis frowns as he walks up to pick the frame up, glancing at the picture the two of them had taken back on their first anniversary. There is another framed picture beside it, one the two of them took when they were in Brazil during their second anniversary, and Louis' heart twinges in pain just a little at the thought of no third anniversary picture joining in any time soon. It's kind of a sad thought, and Louis really doesn't want to start crying because of it so he sets the framed picture down and walks into his bedroom, deflating when he realizes just how empty and un-Harry things currently are. Harry's clothes are no longer in the closet or the drawers. Harry's shoes are gone. Harry's stupid blankets and pillows aren't on the bed. All of Harry's bathroom items disappeared, and there's absolutely no trace of Harry's existence left in this flat besides the framed pictures that Louis is not ready to take down. It sucks. It really fucking sucks, but well, this is what Louis supposes a heart break is supposed to feel like. 

Louis slumps over to his bed and plops his back on top of the mattress when he feels too defeated to do anything else. His flat has remained untouched since he left for the tour, except for the fact that now all of Harry's things are gone. Even the picture Harry had on his nightstand is gone. It was one of Louis that Harry had taken one morning. Louis had just woken up, the sunlight hitting the side of his face, and Harry had his stupid camera out taking pictures of him laying in bed. It apparently was one of Harry's favorites because he loved how soft Louis' face had looked so he printed the picture and framed it so he could keep it on the nightstand, wanting to look at it every night before going to bed. It's sad that it's no longer there now. Louis turns on his side and glances at his own nightstand, seeing he still had his framed picture of Harry resting right there in his eye sight, and he felt a little better in knowing that he was able to capture such a happy moment of Harry laughing. It's a side of Harry that Louis wants to always remember, and despite them being broken up, Louis doesn't think he could ever get rid of that picture, not when Harry looks so cute and bright. 

Louis ends up reaching across and grabbing a hold of the framed picture, smiling as he traces his finger over Harry's delicate face. He's rudely interrupted when he hears the buzzer to his flat go off, signifying that there is a guest at his door. Louis groans and sets the picture down so he can roll off his bed, grumpily trudging his way through the flat and heading towards the door with a frown because he really wasn't expecting any guest today, which means that it's either Liam or Zayn coming to bother him again. Louis really isn't in the mood for the shenanigans his friends want him to get involved in. Honestly, Louis would really like to cuddle up in his bed and drink a whole case of beer to forget about how truly sad he is over his break up with Harry. It's been months, but sue him, he was - is - in love with the boy. 

"Guys, look - " Louis says as he opens the door, ready to come up with some sort of excuse to get him out of what Liam and Zayn have planned, but all those words die down deep in his throat when he sees Harry standing there instead, green eyes glossy with tears. "Harry?" Louis breathes out in shock, not expecting his ex-boyfriend of all people to be at his front door, crying, looking utterly sad. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Harry shakes his head, a soft whine coming out as he reaches up to wipe under his eyes. He can't even bother to look up at Louis, just walks forward until he's pushing himself in Loui's arms, burying his head into Louis' neck and fighting the new wave of tears when Louis is instinctively wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, not entirely sure what's even going on but still having that need to protect Harry. 

"Harry, talk to me," Louis begs, rubbing his hand up and down Harry's back, furrowing his eyebrows together when Harry lets out a big breath before he pulls back a little bit. 

"I've been at the hospital for two hours," Harry finally admits. 

Louis' eyes widen. "What? Why?"

"It's Claire."

"Claire?" Louis questions flabbergasted, completely stunned by the response. "What do you mean Claire? Is she here, or ...?"

Right, Harry hasn't talked to Louis at all since he left so he has no fucking idea the chaos that Harry's been living in. 

Harry huffs and completely steps away from Louis, using the collar of his shirt to wipe at his face. "Yeah, Claire is here," he answers, sniffling, putting his shirt back down. "She showed up after you left for the tour. Her treatment wasn't working in Manchester so they had to come to London as like a last resort. I don't know." Harry lets out a big breath of air and bites his lips, trying his best to not cry any more. "She had been doing fine these past months - always in an out of the hospital, but she has been progressively getting worse. Today was like ... today she just - " Harry pauses when tears start to surface again. "Today she coughed up blood, and got super sick, and I had to call emergency on her because I didn't know what to do. Now she's in the hospital and hooked up to so many machines, and she's not allowed to leave, and I'm just - I'm so - " Harry breaks down crying when Louis pulls him back into another hug, shushing him softly and just petting at the boy to calm him down. 

"Im sorry, baby," Louis mumbles, cringing at the slip up of the pet name but not letting it bother him too much when Harry doesn't react. "I know this is hard, and I'm so sorry you have to go through this." Louis tightens his hold on Harry and kicks the door close with his foot. He then walks the two of them over to the couch so they could be more comfortable rather than standing at the door hugging. Louis gets the two of them seated on the cushions of the couch, and Harry remains tucked into his side as he tries to calm down from his crying. "You said she's in the hospital now?"

Harry nods, resting his head on top of Louis' shoulder. "They put her in ICU. They said she's most likely going to be staying in there indefinitely."

"Do you want to go visit her then?" Louis brushes his fingers through Harry's hair, hating and loving how easy it is for him to fall into these small things with Harry. They really haven't seen each other in _months_ , and it's so natural for Louis to pull Harry in close like this. That shouldn't be normal. 

"I was with her all morning actually. I just left there," Harry admits, sniffing. "She actually told me to come here."

Louis raises his eyebrows at the comment, surprised that despite the condition Claire is in, she still finds a way to be supportive of Harry and Louis' relationship. 

"I think she knew I want to come see you anyway," Harry says with a bitter laugh, wiping his eyes again because he's so fucking tired of all the tears. "I guess I was just nervous to actually do it, but well, you know Claire."

Louis smiles. "I do know her, but I'm glad you did come over. It's been awhile."

"Yeah," Harry sighs. He finally pulls himself away from Louis and takes a scoot away from his body so they are not completely on top of each other. As much as Harry wants Louis' warmth and comfort, they are still broken up, and it wouldn't be appropriate for Harry to cross that line just because he's feeling this way. "Yeah, she also _uh_ \- she wanted me to come over here to let you know that she wants to see you."

Louis face softens to a smile. "I would love to see her. I'll make sure to visit her soon."

"Great," Harry whispers, now feeling the sudden awkwardness that is starting to settle. THere's spaces between them on the couch, and although Harry's natural instinct is to seek Louis out when he's feeling down, he is slightly embarrassed that he showed up at Louis' door crying. He really didn't intend to get too touchy with Louis by hugging him and crying in his neck, but Harry couldn't help himself. It just weird now that it's over, and Harry isn't entirely sure what he's supposed to do or what he's supposed to say since he's no longer crying in Louis' arms. "She'll be happy," he adds just because he doesn't know what else he's supposed to say in order to keep the silence from weighing over them.

"Of course."

Harry swallows and looks around the room, sighing when he grows fidgeting. "I guess I should _uh_ \- I guess should head out." Harry twiddles his fingers together as he stands from the couch, smiling when Louis follows him up and walks him over to the door. "I'm sorry for coming here all ... " Harry waves his hand around for emphasis.

"It's okay, Harry. You know you're welcomed here."

"Right," Harry smiles, pushing a stray piece of hair behind his ear and wrapping his arms around his middle. "But yeah, just wanted to let you know about Claire."

Louis nods his head, appreciatively. "Thank you. I'll definitely go visit her." Louis opens the door for Harry and follows him through the doorway. "It was good to see you, you know."

"Yeah, same with you," Harry swallows, blinking, heart beating rapidly in his chest. "I'm glad you're back."

The two of them linger around the door for a couple of minutes before Harry is finally leaving. The visit ended so weird and awkward, and Louis hates that this is what their relationship has come to. He knows they're broken up and they don't act like how they used to, but Louis wishes that he and Harry could talk and interact without any awkwardness from rising. Unfortunately, it happened, and after all the attention wore off from Harry crying, it was like they didn't know what to do or say around each other, and it's slightly saddening. Louis, of course, is glad that Harry still wanted to come see him and inform him about Claire, but he does hope there comes a day where they can go back to being proper friends. 

Since Louis still has the rest of the day to lounge around and get used to being home again, he decides to head back into his bed room to take a nap. After the days he's been enduring with constantly traveling and constantly coaching, his sleep schedule had been fucked up, especially since a lot of his nights were spent awake moping about Harry. Now that he's actually seen Harry, he feels good enough to finally get some appropriate amount of rest. Unfortunately, he now knows Harry hasn't been smiling or laughing that Louis was hoping, in fact, it seems like Harry took a couple steps back in his recovery process, and that worries the fuck out of Louis. Louis doesn't like that Harry has been alone for these past months trying to cope with not just a break up and his own mental health, but with his cousin who is apparently weakening as the days go on. It's so unsettling for Louis, but he really is glad that he was able to see Harry the day he returned home, and he's glad to know that Harry has been wanting to see him for awhile so it's those small little things that help Louis feel an ounce better. 

A couple hours later, when Louis finally wakes, he sees he has a couple messages on his phone. Two of them are from Liam and Zayn, being the nosy and invasive friends that are checking in on him and making sure that he was doing okay. Of course Louis sends a sassy reply back they woke him from his nap, but he does reassure his friends that he's doing fine and glad to be home. Louis might complain about them always hounding him for the break up, but he does appreciate how much they care about him. The other message is actually from Harry, one that was sent about an hour ago informing him that Claire would like to see him before visiting hours are up. Louis quickly checks the time to make sure that it's not too late, and he's relieved to know he has a few hours left before he knows the hospital stops allowing people to visit. Louis quickly scrambles from the bed and freshens himself up before he's leaving his flat to go visit Claire. The hospital isn't too far from where he lives so he's thankful he doesn't have to waste too much time driving over there. He's more than excited he finally gets to see Claire after going so long of not being able to. 

Louis is giddy as he make his way through the hospital, following the front desk's guide to where Claire is currently residing. He's secretly hoping that he gets this alone time with Claire and that none of her other family members are in the room as well, as selfish as this sounds. He just misses her, and he really wants to make her feel better and forget for a moment that she's hooked up to so many machines and that she's now staying in a hospital until she ... well ... until it's time for her to not be anymore. Louis knows Claire has been there since this morning and has been in the hospital all day so Louis is looking forward to ending Claire's night positively.

Louis gets to Claire's door after walking down the hallway and slowly pushes it open, unveiling Claire who's laying on her bed looking up at the television that is playing on the wall in front of her. "Hello, love, mind if I join the fun?" He questions softly, seeing Claire turn her head towards him and smile widening. 

"Louzza, you're here."

Louis steps fully into the room and closes the door behind him once he's inside. He sees that the room is dark and the only light is from the moon held high in the sky outside the window and the television that's currently playing. Louis looks around to take in the kind of room that Claire is staying in and notes that it's more homey than he expected. There is an arm chair pulled right next to Claire's bed that Louis will most likely sit in. The counter under where the television is hung on the wall is filled with a bunch of gifts and balloons for Claire to get well, even some stuffed animals. There's a seat by the window that is full of pillows, and when Louis glances over there, he sees there are other bodies in the room and notices that the two people sitting there is not something he was wanting to see at all on his first day back in town. After everything that has happened in the span of a few hours, the last thing he was expecting to see is Jake and Harry cuddled up on the seat, sleeping with their heads resting on top of each other. Louis falters a little bit as he stares at them, eyes burning a hole right to where Jake's arm is wrapped around Harry's shoulder. 

Honestly, Louis was not expecting Harry and Jake to get this close to one another since the break up, and it's very unsettling for him to know that Harry has been going to Jake during his time apart from one another. Louis could really cry right now had it not been for Claire grasping his attention. 

"Don't think too much about it," Claire ends up whispering, outstretching her frail, little arm so Louis could reach over and grab it. 

Louis smiles weakly and holds her hand, taking a seat in the arm chair next to her bed. "It's kind of hard seeing the two of them like that after Harry had told me there was nothing ever going on between them. I guess a lot happened since I was on tour."

"It's not what it is," Claire mumbles, weakly squeezing Louis' hand to get him to look at her. She waits until he finally does. "Harry came back to visit me, but he said he doesn't have a car so he asked Jake to drive him here. Harry was already falling asleep before Jake joined him on the couch."

"What do you mean he doesn't have a car? I gave him a car."

Claire giggles. "Yeah, he told me about that," she admits, shrugging. "He said it didn't feel right driving it, and something is wrong with the battery so he's been using his friends to drive him around until he can afford his own."

"And he apparently asked Jake today. Great."

"Niall was busy," Claire explains, smiling sadly. "Harry apologized to me for bringing Jake but he didn't have any other option. Jake is the one that got on the couch and pulled Harry into his side. It wasn't like they were sitting like that to begin with. I think Jake thought I was sleeping when he did that, but I definitely wasn't."

Louis sighs, glancing back over to the two of them and pouting some more. He really doesn't like the way Jake is holding Harry. It makes him want to vomit. 

"He's still in love with you," Claire says after a moment, in such a soft spoken voice that Louis almost misses it. 

"It's hard to see that right now."

Louis has always been aware of Harry's friendship with Jake, but he's also been highly aware of the obvious crush that Jake has had on Harry since they first started dating. Harry did have a point that Jake had never been forceful with his feelings or tried to come in between Harry and Louis, but Louis still did not like that there was a time in their relationship where Harry would spend more time with Jake than Harry did with him. And now that the two of them are broken up and Harry and Jake are still seeing each other, it makes Louis feel like shit. While Louis was spending these months so heart broken over the break up, he comes to find out that Harry has been seeking comfort in Jake. Stupid, fucking Jake. 

"Louis, he's so sad right now. He has too much going on, and he's just so sad," Claire admits with a frown, turning her head as well to look over them. "Harry feels alone right now because he doesn't have you by his side anymore. He tells me that he doesn't want to bother Niall because he's busy with school, and he said he's not good enough friends with some other two dudes I can't remember the name of, and well, with me ... " Claire pauses when a tear rolls down her cheek. "I hate to be blunt, but I'm dying, Louis, and he knows this. He doesn't have me for very long, and he's just so sad right now, and I don't know what to do to make him feel any better."

Louis scoots the chair closer to the bed so he can wipe away the tears that are running down Claire's face. He really wanted to come here to end her night on a good note, but it seems like he's done ruined everything because of his jealously with Harry. Louis sighs and runs his fingers through Claire's head, drawing both of their attention away from Harry and Jake. 

"I just don't understand how everything turned to shit in one year." Louis frowns. "We were good, and then we weren't." 

Louis notices that Claire is wearing her matching Lily necklace with Harry, and his heart just about nearly crumbles because this whole situation is so shitty, and he still can't believe everything happened so fast. 

"Can you promise me one thing?" Claire then asks, blinking her innocent eyes up over at Louis. When Louis nods, she continues. "Please, don't give up on him. I don't know how he's going to handle everything when it happens, but please, just be there for him. He's so scared right now. He's so scared of not having you, of not having me, and I just - please, be there for him. You two deserve the whole world."

Louis finally smiles, briefly glancing at Harry again and feeling a smirk come on when Harry winces in his sleep and turns away from Jake. "I don't think I could ever turn away from him. I still love him."

"That's good ... because he loves you too."

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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****LouisTomlinson:**** Back in London.

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The unfortunate part to Claire being in the hospital again is that she is now under strict protocols. Most of Claire's days are spent either getting treated or fading in and out of consciousness. Sometimes, her sleep could last her for days before she would even wake up, and at first it was scary to see how long she could go without opening her eyes, but the nurses reassured this was completely normal for Claire's body to do. Since Claire is constantly battling the thyroid cancer that has developed and shifted, her body gets exhausted to the point where she is nearly falling asleep without her own control. Harry tries his best to be with Claire as much as he possibly can. He spends most of his days at the hospital rather than at home or at the stadium. He's told Matt that it's a hard time for him right now and he's not too sure working is what's best for him. Of course Matt understands, but Anne is getting a little worried with how Harry is constantly spending time in the hospital rather than changing his scenery to make himself not drown in the sadness of what Claire is going through. It all sucks, but Harry is trying to make it work as best as he can. He has his aunt and uncle by his side. His sister has come home for the time being, even his Nan is in town, and all the important people who need to be here are, and so Harry is is just doing his fucking best. 

They know Claire is down to her final days any minute now. Since the treatments take up more time than her actual recovery, the doctors in London don't think there is anything that can stop the cancer from growing. Nothing seems to put Claire into remission, and nothing seems to prevent the cancer from spreading to her other organs. Cancer fucking sucks, and Harry hates that it always goes after the people who don't deserve it at all. Claire is still so young, and she had such a big life ahead of her. Harry knew Claire would go on and do great things in the future, but now, she's stuck in a hospital, counting down the days until she takes her final breath. It's so heartbreaking, and it's all the reason why Harry wants to stay by her side. He'll get another day. He'll get another game to take pictures with. Harry will get all these other moments that he won't get with Claire, and everything just kind of seems so fucking irrelevant when it comes to anything that does not involve Claire. Harry spends morning through lunch with her, and then he gives himself some free time before returning for dinner. He's not allowed to stay over night with her since only her parents get to, but he does spend nearly every waking hour at her side. They spend those times playing games, or Harry painting Claire's nails. Claire's hair has nearly fallen off so Harry tries to brighten up her smile by showing all the head scarves she can wrap around her head. He brings makeup to freshen up her lips and sparkle up her eyelids. He brings some flowers to they can make crowns together to wear around the hospital room. They even talk on most days when Claire feels up for it, using most of the energy that she barely has in hinting Harry about his relationship with Louis. Harry knows what Claire is doing, and most of the time he can easily deflect the conversation by bringing up a new activity to occupy her time. Some days though, when Claire is feeling really powerful, she doesn't give up. 

Harry would find it endearing if he's not so focused on spending happy moments with her rather than these relationship conversations that Harry absolutely dreads. 

Louis also gets his rounds with Claire. He tries to come during that window when Harry is off doing his own thing so they don't have to awkwardly cross paths in the hallway. Louis mainly does this because he knows every time Harry shows up, Jake is typically following behind. Louis knows everything is about Claire right now, and even he is trying to put all his focus on her, but the last thing he really wants to see is Jake and Harry together. He might somewhat know that there is really nothing going on between them, or, at least, that is what Claire says, but it's still hard for Louis to see Harry confine in anyone that isn't him, and he hasn't recovered well enough from the break up to be okay with Harry and other men. So, that's why Louis comes when Harry is not, and truthfully, he loves getting to spend one on one time with Claire because they never had the chance to do this before.

"Claire bear," Louis sings as he opens the door to Claire's room, wedging his way inside and smiling brightly when Claire turns her head in his direction. "Guess what I found in my room today?" Louis brightens up as he pulls out a Lily flower crown from behind his back, the one he had poorly attempted to make the first time he ever met this little girl. "Just for you Princess."

Claire smiles and reaches her hand out to grab the crown that Louis walks over to her. "Sir, Louis, this is your first ever crown."

"It is," Louis responds, grabbing the crown and placing it on top of Claire's head. "Fits just for a Princess." 

Claire smiles waivers just a little, and she ends up sighing. "This is the crown you made with your princess," she reminds sadly, lips twisting to the side. "I know you'll get your Princess back one day Sir, Louis. Even the stars and the moon know so." 

Louis' heart beats a little faster in his chest. "Well, princess doesn't like to be called princess so I'm not sure how well that will work out."

"Oh, he loves it when you call him that," Claire teases. 

The two of them start laughing, but it soon gets cut off when the door to Claire's room is slowly opening. Louis jerks his head in that direction to see who it is that is walking in, expecting a nurse or a medical staff to check in on Claire, but he's greatly disappointed when he sees that it's Harry and Jake making their second appearance for the day. Louis bites his lip to hold back that groan he wants to let out and quickly glances away from the two of them so he doesn't show just how annoyed he is from seeing Jake latching on to Harry like a leech. Claire must think the same thing because the two of them share a secret look before there's a smile creeping on both their faces . 

"Hi Claire Bear," Harry greets softly, walking into the room with Jake close behind, only, when he notices that Louis is also there, sitting in the seat next to Claire's bed, he falters a bit. A hesitant smile forms on Harry's face once his eyes fall upon Louis. "Louis, hi."

Louis tries his best to welcome Harry with a smile, but he knows it must come across as bitter. He ignores it and decides to stand from his seat, mainly addressing his attention to Claire. "I should probably head out." 

"What?" Claire questions the same time Harry blurts out a, "No."

Louis widens his eyes at both responses and quickly glances at Claire to see what she genuinely has to say, however, Louis gets interrupted when Jake clears his throat. 

"I mean, he probably has footie or something. We don't want to keep him from that."

Louis' eyes harden at Jake's figure as Harry turns around to face him, scowling. "Jake, - " 

"It's okay," Louis quickly interrupts, waving his hands out in front of him to stop Harry from causing any type of scene. He's relieved when Harry turns his focus over on Louis. "You should spend your time with her. I only stopped by to say hello, but ... " Louis trails off, rolling his eyes to the side and slowly walking his way out the door, only turning back to wave a farewell to Claire before he's gone. 

"Anyway," Jake coughs, rolling his lips together. 

"I think Louis is right," Claire then says, her eyes slightly hardening at where Jake is standing too close to Harry. "I would like to spend some time with Harry." 

Harry's brows furrow together at the bitter tone Claire uses. "Yeah, that's what I came here for," Harry reminds, slowly walking over to the seat that Louis had just been occupying. Jake starts to follow behind, but Claire is quick to get her point settled. 

"I mean, I would like to spend time with _just_ Harry. I know you drove him here ... or whatever ... but I really want to be with my cousin alone." 

Jake lets out a bitter sigh and scratches at the back of his head. "Alright. I guess I'll let you to be." Jake turns on his feet and walks out the door as well, not making much of a fuss as he closes his door to leave Claire and Harry alone. 

Harry watches him leave with a frown before he's snapping his eyes over at Claire. "What's going on?" he questions right away, not sure where Claire's sudden snappiness is coming from. 

"What do you mean what's going on?" Claire questions back, more sassily than Harry is used to. "The question is what's going on with you, Harry?"

Harry looks slightly taken aback. "What did I bloody do?"

"Harry," Claire scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. "Do you not care that you and Louis had just broken up not that long ago? Do you think Louis is keen on seeing you constantly with Jake by your side? Gosh, this is driving me insane."

"I'm not trying to do anything, Claire. I'm just - I'm trying not to think about this break up, and I'm trying not to bother Louis with anything. I mean, it's probably best if he just ... I don't know ... moves on from me. I'm too much of a shit show right now, and he deserves something better." 

Claire lifts an eyebrow. "Are these the conversations you have with your therapist? Because you mind need to find someone else who has a bloody sense." 

"No, Claire, I haven't voiced that to anyone, actually," Harry responds in a snappy tone. "I've been thinking about it, and Louis _should_ be with someone who is not like me. Obviously, I make him bloody miserable, and he's constantly worried about me as if I'll break at any moment. I don't want Louis to be with someone like that. I think it's best if we just let each other go." 

"Who's benefit is that for, Harry?" 

Harry pouts, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know, Claire. I don't know anything right now other than that I don't deserve to be happy with Louis after the hell I put him through." Harry sighs and slouches back in the arm chair, pressing a hand to his temple before remembering a previous statement Claire had said. "What did you mean about Louis constantly seeing me with Jake? This is the first time."

"He saw you the night he came back into town. He visited me after you fell asleep on the couch, and Jake was sitting there next to you." 

Harry groans, so fucking annoyed. "I wasn't - that was an accident. If I knew he was coming that night, I would've sent Jake somewhere else."

"You can't just hide Jake from Louis. It makes it so much worse." Claire leans back against her own pillows and makes sure that the crown on her head is still sitting upright. "I just don't get what you're doing with Jake. I know he's been your friend and all, but like, are you trying to move on with him? Are you using him to help you forget about everything that's going on?"

"I don't know," Harry whines, covering his face momentarily before he's moving his hand to the arms of the seat, digging his fingers into the fabric. "It's just - whenever I'm alone, Jake is always there to make sure I'm not."

"And you think that's good thing?" Claire questions with a roll to her eyes. 

"He's been by my side the most this past year. It's kind of hard to let someone go like that."

Claire makes an indigent sound that has Harry raising an eyebrow. "Harry, I know what you're doing," Claire reprimands, sounding like a scolding mother. Harry pouts at the tone and at the accusation. "You're wanting to push the one good thing you have in life away because you think you deserve to feel like crap and you don't. Harry, you don't deserve any of it, and you don't need to let Louis go because you think you should be miserable. If anything, you need to be pulling him in. You once told me that Louis was always there for you when you felt the weight of the world was dragging you down, and you need to hold on to that Harry. Not very many people get the kind of love that Louis has for you, and I get that you two need this break to work on yourselves, but don't use that as an excuse to not be happy with him. We both know Jake is just an easy distraction for you, and you're too good for that."

Harry hates how spot on Claire is with her words.

"Claire," Harry sniffles, wiping under his eyes when he feels tears beginning to rise. "Things are just too complicated right now for me and Louis."

"That doesn't mean love can't beat it all."

Harry lets out a dramatic huff, leaning back into his chair and deflating against the cushions. "I don't deserve him at all. I've been such a bloody mess, and I just can't seem to make him happy anymore. The last happy memory I have is on our second anniversary, but it's like after that, everything went down hill. I barely remember what his smile looks like because he hardly ever does that around me anymore."

"There's a lot of things we don't deserve," Claire states bitterly, eyes dropping to her lap, scoffing. Harry raises his eyebrows and straightens up in his seat, noticing just how much Claire's words truly hit him in the heart. She's right, Claire doesn't deserve any of this. "But you know what?" She questions rhetorically, turning to face Harry again. "You don't let it hold you back. You can't sit there and live your life whining about all the things you do and do not deserve. You got to live your life actually doing the things that you do want. Harry, do you think I deserve to be in this hospital? Do you think I deserve to die?"

"Claire - " Harry interrupts with a whine. 

"I don't deserve any of it Harry, but you don't see me sitting there letting it get the best of me. I spent my whole life doing all the things that I wanted because even though I don't deserve to have cancer, I do, and there's nothing I can do about. I can sit in bed and cry all day about it, or I can go live my life. There are worse things in life, Harry that you don't deserve, but love is not one of them. Everyone deserves to be loved. I think you need to open your eyes and realize just how lucky you are to have someone that goes to the extremes just to make you happy. You don't deserve Louis, but you get him. You get his love. You get his passion. You get his heart. You get all these things that I'll never get to experience with anybody. Don't waste away your life living in what you don't deserve and start living the life of things you get to have." Claire pauses when a tear rolls over her lips and she quickly starts wiping at it. "You get a life, Harry, start living it."

There's a heavy silence that follows after Claire is finished. She is down right near exhausted once the talk is over, and she's leaning back against her pillows to stare blankly at the television that is still airing some show. Harry doesn't bother to say anything else because he knows how true Claire's words are to him. Harry always pushes away the good in his life and focuses on all the negative things he deserves. He's never really tried seeing things from the perspective that Claire had mentioned, and now, he realizes, he's a down right shitty person for being so selfish around Claire when Claire is literally living her life more than Harry ever has, and she's dying. It's so sad and heart breaking, and he hates himself for stooping so low to the point where his sick cousin has to give him a pep talk about life while she is currently fighting for her own. Harry really does hate himself sometimes for being such a pain in the ass, and he feels so guilty that he ruined the rest of Claire's evening by being a difficult person. He can't even look at her or acknowledge her because her words are weighing heavy on his heart. 

Harry is saved when a nurse is walking into the room. Since it's later in the evening, Claire needs some more medicine for the pain and so Harry uses the nurses visit as his leeway of sneaking out. He walks down the hallway until he is stepping out into the lobby where Jake is sitting down on one of the couches. He has a leg tossed over the other and his phone pulled out playing some game, but he notices Harry's appearance fairly quickly so he ends up pocketing his phone and standing to his feet, walking over to Harry and placing his hands on Harry's shoulders. 

Harry physically cringes at the touch, knowing very damn well it should be Louis who is here with him .... not Jake. 

"Hey, you okay?" Jake questions concerned, eyeballing Harry's face like he's looking for any damage.

Harry hates how he eases up to Jake's touch and his words, but he just feel so fucking shitty right now that he can't seem to pull himself away from it. 

"There's just a lot going on, you know?"

Jake hums, arm wrapping around Harry's back as he begins walking the two of them towards the hospital exit. "Maybe you need a distraction," he hints, to which Harry grunts in response to. "Like something to take your mind off of everything. You've been too worked up and haven't caught a break since."

"I don't even care at this point," Harry whispers under his breath, really, honestly ready for anything to help him feel any ounce better than what he is currently feeling. 

Jake drives Harry back to his flat, the new one he had been living in since he moved out of his flat with Niall. Harry walks over to the couch in the living room and squeezes up against the arm rest and tries his best to tuck his body as close together as possible. He moves his legs underneath his bum and wraps his arms around his chest while he waits for Jake to join him by staring at the ground. Jake comes into the living room moments later with two wine glasses and a bottle of red for them to drink. He takes a seat as close to Harry as possible and ends up pouring them each a glass. 

"Here, take this." Jake hands Harry his glass with a smile. Harry takes a small, tentative sip and then rests the glass on his thigh. Jake frowns. "Come on, Harry. When was the last time you had a proper drink and just forgot about everything?"

Honestly, Harry doesn't want to drink, but the thought of forgetting about his problems for a moment does sound appealing so against his better judgement, he takes a bigger sip of his wine. 

"It does taste good." 

"Then drink some more. We have a whole bottle." Jake smirks as he watches Harry take a longer sip this time, nearly emptying the whole glass in one gulp before he's grabbing the bottle to refill Harry's cup again. 

So, the one bottle ends up turning into almost two, and hours later, Harry is well beyond tipsy off the wine he's drinking. It's easy to let the taste of alcohol swim through his mind instead of all the contiuous problems that keep bothering him at night. At this point, Harry cannot even remember why he's been so sad or why his heart feels so heavy. With the wine running through his veins, he feels like he's floating, and he likes it. He feels light and free, and it's been a long time since he's ever gotten to feel so euphoric. The room is spinning just a little bit, and there is some random song playing in the background that Harry finds himself humming to. He can feel fingers carding through his hair that makes his eyes want to close and a warm body pressed up against his own that makes his skin tingle. Everything is nice an innocent with the way Jake and Harry are sitting, and Harry is never going to be the one to deny a head scratch from anyone, but when he feels Jake's other hand coming to rest up high on his thigh, he does sober up a little. 

Harry straightens his head from where it was tilted back on the couch and turns to look at Jake, frowning when he sees the boy's face so close to his. Harry isn't sure what is going on or where any of this is leading to, but the hand that Jake has on his thigh feels like it's burning a hole right through his body, and Harry has never wanted to escape someone's touch as badly as he wants to escape Jake's, but the alcohol that's in his system is telling him to relax, to calm down, that everything will be okay, and that he has nothing to worry about. Harry let's the alcohol cloud his mind, because, well, he's had way too many glasses, and he has nothing alarming him to slow down. Harry ends up leaning his head back on the cushion of the couch, attempting to ignore the weight of Jake's hand on his body and instead trying to let the music lull him into a comfortable peace of mind. 

That peace, however, does get disturbed when Harry feels dry lips pressing right underneath his jaw line, trailing down to his neck before they're coming right back up. Harry's eyes shoot open at the touch, and this time, he does retract a little. 

"What are you doing?" Harry slurs out, eyes slightly going cross eyed from how drunk and close he is to Jake. 

Jake smiles as he moves his hand from Harry's hair to grip the side of his face. "Let me take care of you," Jake whispers, leaning closer until his lips are breathing right on top of Harry's. "Forget about everything. Don't worry."

Don't worry, Harry repeats in his head. Don't worry about Louis. Don't worry about Claire. Just don't fucking worry, Harry. 

So ... Harry doesn't worry about it. Harry's judgement easily gets persuaded with the wine and with the touch of another man on him. He knows it's wrong and that he shouldn't let it happen, but he was told not to worry. He was told to let go and to use this as the distraction he needed in order to forget about all his problems so he's easily letting it happen. His mind is so fuzzy, and his body feels numb, and Harry really has no proper sense of left or right at the moment, but Jake's lips pressing against his own does ignite an unfamiliar flame inside of Harry's body that Harry can easily put all his focus in to. Harry doesn't feel himself in the way he kisses back, but he knows that he is. He knows his lips are moving if by the sounds Jake is making is anything to go by, but Harry just can't feel it. All Harry can feel is the slosh of the wine in his head so he doesn't even register that his hands are pressing to Jake's face or that his mouth is being pried apart by Jake's tongue. Jake runs his hands down the curve of Harry's waist until he's wrapping an arm around Harry's hips. He pulls Harry closer to him until they are nearly pressing up against one another, but then he's gripping on to Harry tightly and yanking him up on his lap. Harry moves clumsily and nearly falls to the side at the movement. His eyes go dizzy when he tries to straighten himself up on Jake's lap in his attempt at becoming aware of his surroundings, but Jake's lips are quickly back on his, and Harry loses focus on what he was doing in the first place. 

Jake's hands continue to roam up and down Harry's body while he works his lips against Harry's. The kiss is not at all romantic, and there's nothing passionate about it. The kiss is sloppy and messy, absolutely alcohol induced and one that Harry cannot even register that he's taking part in. All Harry can really focus on is Jake's hands, and that seems to be the only thing the small part of Harry's sober brain can register at the moment. It's like autopilot in the way Harry is kissing, eyes opening up and looking off to the side skeptically when he feels Jake's fingers curling into the top of his pants. It doesn't feel right. These hands are on a place that Harry doesn't like, and he feels his heart starting to anxiously beat faster in his chest because he absolutely doesn't like where this is going. Harry's skin is crawling where Jake's hand is touching, and the alcohol in Harry's system is now adding on to the fact that he wants to vomit with how uncomfortable he currently is. Harry starts to slow the kissing down when he feels Jake's hands really hanging around his ass, and when Jake sneaks a hand in front to get to the button of Harry's jeans, Harry is immediately slapping Jake away, sobriety coming in full force. 

"What the hell are you doing?"

Jake freezes momentarily, eyes widening in shock. "W-wha ... are we not going to ...?"

"Are you serious?" Harry huffs out, quickly scrambling off Jake's lap and stumbling over his feet, having to use the side of the couch to get himself standing properly. "You think we're going to have sex?"

Jake shrugs. "Did you not want to forget about everything?" 

"That doesn't mean sex." 

"Well, then why the bloody hell were you kissing me?" Jake argues back.

Harry scoffs bitterly. "I-I'm drunk, and sad, and so fucking stressed out about everything so I have no idea what the hell I am doing. Was I even kissing you? I can't even remember because my mind has too much shit going on, but I know I'm not having sex with you."

"So you've been using me this whole time then?" Jake questions with sass, standing to his feet and scowling. "You never had any intention of getting with me?"

"No," Harry yells out, slightly breathlessly, on the verge of panicky. This is not what he wanted at all. "You're my friend Jake - "

"You're my friend, too," He interrupts. "Doesn't mean I don't want to fuck you."

Oh, Harry could throw this fucking lamp at Jake's head, but he's too pissed and upset, and words can't even seem to formulate properly right now so he does that best thing he can do ... storm out the place before he has a fucking mental break down in front of the person who just tried to have sex with him.

Harry is a down right mess as he leaves Jake's place. He doesn't have a car to drive, and even if he did, he's too tipsy to actually get behind a wheel. He's not really familiar with where Jake lives, and he's about near to tears right now so he really doesn't want to see his mother or Niall so Harry waves down an available cab that he finds and quickly tells the driver the first address that pops into his mind. He doesn't mean for it to be Louis' place, but in the height of his anxious feeling, and the strong urge to burst into tears, Harry can't think of anyone else that he wants to go see. In the back of his mind, he can hear Claire urging him to pull Louis close to him, and despite how shitty he was being about his relationship with Jake and how completely right Louis had been about the situation with Jake and his feelings, Harry knows that Louis will always open the door for him. Claire is so fucking right that Harry could laugh at himself. 

The cab pulls up right along the curb of Louis' flat, and Harry quickly rushes out and gets inside the building. He greets the security guard working the desk and then runs to the elevator to get up to Louis' floor as quickly as possible. He nearly stumbles down the hallway, not minding the fact that it's gotten late in the night and he's making quite the ruckus banging on Louis' door, hoping that Louis is awake or is alert enough to hear him knocking. 

It takes ten seconds before the door is swinging open, and a sleep, rumbled Louis is standing there with a frown. 

"Harry?" Louis questions confusedly, rubbing at his eyes as he releases a yawn. "You know it's midnight, right?" he continues, blinking to settle his eyesight before he's noticing how frantic Harry looks. Louis furrows his eyebrows together and pulls Harry in his flat, shutting the door behind them and turning to face the boy, now wide awake and concerned. "What's wrong? Is everything okay with Claire?"

Harry huffs and tries his best to calm down, rubbing at his own eyes before running his fingers through his hair. "She's fine. Same 'ole Claire, you know." Harry laughs bitterly, sniffing. "I'm just - I'm kind of mess." 

Louis raises an eyebrow, laughing under his breath. "I can tell. Mind telling me what's going on then?"

"I'm not sure you'd want to know." Harry swallows, nervously fiddling with the ends of his t shirt and staring at Louis' bare feet because he does not think he could look Louis in the eye right and blurt out what he had just ran away from. 

"What is it?"

Harry swallows again. "We kissed," he mumbles quietly. 

"What?"

"We kissed," Harry says louder, blinking rapidly when more tears start flooding his eyes. "Jake kissed me, and I - I let him. We were drinking wine, and then it just ... happened." Louis completely deflates once Harry's is finished, and Harry can feel his actual heart breaking with the gut wrenching disappointed look on Louis' face. It gets even worse when Louis doesn't say anything, just standing there dumbfounded with tears springing to his own eyes. Harry sniffs. "Louis?"

Louis' head jerks at the sound of Harry's voice. "I mean, fuck, Harry, how many more ways are you going to break my heart?" Louis shakes his head and storms past Harry, walking over to the couch and standing right next to it, rubbing his chin with a cold set scowl. 

"Louis, it was nothing. It was just a kiss," Harry whines, following Louis and stopping a few feet away from him. 

Louis scoffs bitterly, rolling his eyes over at Harry. "It's a fucking kiss, Harry. It means everything."

"It meant nothing to me, Louis. I fucking hated it. I hated all of it, and I'm so fucking lost right now that I don't know what I'm doing," Harry yells back, choking on his voice when a nasty sob threatens to belt out. "I'm losing my cousin, Louis - my best friend, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. I didn't want to drink, but I did. I didn't want to kiss him but I did. I don't want to lose my cousin, but I'm going to. I don't want to feel like shit, but I do." Harry lets out a heavy breath when he gets himself worked up with speaking, not giving himself room to breathe in the midst of his talk and his cries. Harry shakes his head and rubs at his eyes again. "You think the person I want by my side is Jake? It's not, Louis. It's you. You're the one who's supposed to be there for me, and I feel so lost right now I could go crazy."

Louis' heart clenches. "Harry," he sighs, defeated, not sure what he's even supposed to say. 

"I thought we were still friends?" Harry questions sadly, bottom lip trembling. "I just - it feels like you're avoiding me, and I never hear from you anymore, and I just - I thought we were still friends."

Louis' face softens as he takes a step closer to Harry, gently grabbing a hold of his face. "We are friends, Harry. You know I'll always be there for you."

"You've been gone," Harry whines. "You left _for months,_ Louis. It's hard for me to know that you're still there for me when you're not actually here with me." 

Louis lifts his shoulders, eye brows raised and slightly speechless. "I - I thought it was for the best that I went on this football tour while you stayed here. Why didn't you just say anything?"

"How am I supposed to ask my ex boyfriend that I didn't want him to go on a tour because I wanted him to stay with me? I couldn't ask you that. I mean, I wanted you to just know, and that's wrong of me, but I wanted you to fight for me I guess."

"I'm sorry, Harry," Louis says earnestly, moving his arms around Harry's neck and pulling him into his chest, feeling Harry snuggle up into his hold. "If it makes you feel any better, I was complete shit the whole time we were apart."

Harry pouts. "That doesn't make me feel better," he mutters. "Well," he then hums, pulling back to look into Louis' eyes. "Maybe a little." Harry smiles when Louis snorts, but his smile is quickly fading into a frown again. "I didn't like the kiss at all," Harry admits after a second, hands tentatively reaching up to hold on to Louis' wrist. "I don't want you to hate me because it happened. I don't know what I was thinking or doing, but I didn't like it at all."

"Hey, it's okay, love, it's fine," Louis quickly reassures, hushing Harry before he gets himself worked up again. He eases Harry by running his hands down Harry's sides before wrapping them around Harry's waist, pulling them in close again. "You know, we're broken up so you didn't have to tell me anything, but I'm glad that you did. I'm sorry I got snappy. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I just want to help in any way I can."

"I don't want you to leave me, Louis," Harry admits with another trembling voice, slumping in to Louis and tucking his head into Louis' neck. "You're all I have left," he whimpers, eyes closing. "Please, don't let me go."

"You're always in my heart, Harry. I could never let you go."


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Yeah ... so ... this chapter ... gets a little ... ): sad ... I'm sorry .... so read with caution please ...**

It's very strange for Louis to be standing in this office, knowing this is the place that Harry had been going to for the past couple of months. Louis never envisioned himself to be talking to a therapist or going to one for the sake of Harry, but here he is. It's not like Louis thinks he needs to see one, but he knows how much Harry has been working on his mental health, and he also knows how much Harry wanted Barnes and Louis to meet so of course Louis would jump on a chance to have a quick therapy session with Barnes. Harry thinks it'll help Louis a lot if he got to talk to Barnes and hear the progress that he has been doing since he first started going. Harry has been worried about Louis and how he's handling everything, and Harry knows how much Louis likes to stress about Harry and his well being so Harry figured Barnes and Louis talking will be a good weight to be lifted off Louis' shoulders. 

So this is why Louis is currently waiting in the front office of Harry's therapist, anxiously waiting until it's his turn to go back and talk to Barnes. Louis loves Harry, and he cares about Harry, and hearing from Harry's therapist will be a good way for him to finally calm down and ease his worries about Harry's progression in getting his mental health better. 

"Louis Tomlinson," The receptionist finally calls out, to which Louis jerks his head to. "Dr. Barnes is ready for you." 

Louis nods his head discreetly and gets up from the chair he was sitting in. He follows the instructions the receptionist gives him on the direction to Barnes' office and ends up at his door at the end of the hallway. Once Louis is standing right in the doorway, Barnes looks up from his desk with a smile and waves Louis inside. 

"Hello, you must be Mr. Tomlinson," Barnes greets, standing from his chair to outstretch a hand over his desk for Louis. 

Louis shakes Barnes' hand firmly and welcomes him with a smile. "Nice to finally meet you," Louis settles with, suddenly feeling nerves escalate inside his body.

"I must say it's nice for _me_ to finally meet you. Harry has talked a lot about you in our sessions."

Louis blushes a little, rolling his eyes to the side and smiling as he tries to focus on the degree Barnes has framed on the wall. "I'm not really sure how to take that," Louis admits bashfully. 

"It hasn't been anything bad, if that's what you are wondering," Barnes eases, taking a seat in his chair again. "Harry felt like it would really benefit him and you if we had a small chat about everything that is going on. Harry really expressed his concerns for everything he has put on you, and he wants to make sure that you're doing okay and to hopefully calm any worries you have about Harry's mental health. He has given me the okay to talk to you about this so whatever it is you would like to know or discuss, the door is open."

Louis lets out a slow and steady breath and begins twiddling his fingers in his lap, not entirely sure where all these nerves have came from. "I guess I would like to know how his progression has been going? _Um,_ sometimes it's hard for me to know if he's doing okay when he's crying or you know, doing something he's not really wanting to do. Like, I'm glad he's coming here, but I guess you are right, I need some sort of reassurance about his progression to keep me from worrying too much. He's going through a lot right now, and I really don't want to see him break down again." 

"Louis, he's doing great," Barnes admits with a comforting smile, reclining back in his chair, instantly making Louis relax at the relief of a confession. "I know those moments where he's crying seems like nothing is working, but it's within those moments of his tears where he's talking about his problems that shows the true growth and development he has been doing. I feel like he's been expressing his feelings more and talking about what's been bothering him. The tears are going to come, but it's him speaking out instead of holding everything in where the true progression shows."

Louis nods his head, seemingly understanding with what Barnes is talking about. "That's true," he agrees under his breath. "Harry actually has been talking to me and initiating some of the more ... complicated conversations. That's something he really never did before. I mean, the last time we were together, he told me about Jake kissing him, and then that night he completely opened up about going to therapy with you. It was a relief to know he felt comfortable to talk to me, but I just worry so much."

"I think you're doing exactly what you should be, Louis," Barnes adds on. "You're right about Harry going through a lot, but you being his support system has helped his progression. He's talked to me about his cousin and his break up with you, and I think he's come to terms with both, but I also think you being by his side is making it easier for him to cope. He's been working on his confidence and his voice, and it's something he's gotten so good at. I mean, he's starting to wear nail polish a lot more. He's wanting to grow his hair out. He's wanting to express a lot more things that he's tried so hard to suppress, and those little things make a big difference in Harry's overall health."

Louis does feel a ton better after having this conversation with Barnes. He does appreciate that Harry was thinking about him whenever he decided for the two of them to meet. Louis has been constantly worrying about Harry's overall wellbeing since Claire has been admitted into the hospital, and sometimes, it's hard for Louis to see the progression in Harry's health when he constantly sees how upset Harry is. It's good to know that Barnes sees the progress in Harry's well being, and it's even more comforting to know that Barnes is really helping Harry improve on his mental health and confidence before anything does actually happen to Claire. Overall, Louis is glad he talked to Barnes. He feels lighter and less stressed. He feels like he can breathe a little better knowing that Harry isn't on the verge of a mental breakdown at any minute. Harry and Louis might not be together right now, but Louis does care about Harry, and he'll always care about him. The two of them are friends, and as Harry's friend, Louis wants to make sure that Harry is doing okay despite everything that is going on. 

After Louis' talk with Barnes, he decides to go over to the hospital to visit Claire. It feels like the right thing to do considering he spent half his session with Barnes discussing how he and Harry are going to handle Claire's passing. It was a sad thing to talk about, but Louis knows it's something he and Harry have to prepare for. 

As Louis walks into the hospital and makes his way through the building until he's at Claire's door, he sees that Harry is already in the room with her. He's carefully sitting on the edge of Claire's bed while the two of them make flower crowns together. The one flower crown Louis had brought Claire weeks ago is still on top of Claire's head, and Louis smiles at the thought of Claire not wanting to take that off. 

"Louezer," Claire cheers once Louis walks into the room, instantly brightening up at his appearance.

Harry turns his head as well and smiles once his eyes fall upon Louis' body, biting his lip as he watches Louis go and take a seat on the arm chair right next to the bed he and Claire on sitting on. Louis sits on the seat and glances up at Harry, making eye contact with him and smiling. 

"I'm so happy you made," Claire continues joyously, setting her half made crown back on her lap so she can put all her focus on to Louis. "Hazzer here told me that you have your first game back tomorrow."

Louis raises his eyebrows and glances at Harry again, heart swelling when Harry's cheeks heat up. Louis shakes his head fondly and looks back at Claire. "I do have my first game tomorrow. It's been awhile since I've gotten on the field. Are you going to watch?"

"Of course I am," Claire scoffs, as if there is anything else she would be doing. "Hazmasta even gave me a hat with your number on it because he said we both have to support our favorite player." There's a pause when Claire flicks her eyes back and forth between Louis and Harry, giggling when Harry ducks his head down embarrassingly. "Our favorite player is you, by the way."

Harry jerks his head up and lightly hits Claire's leg. "Hey."

Claire glances at Harry and shrugs her shoulders, smiling cheekily before she goes back to finishing her crown. Harry scoffs, trying his best not to look at Louis and show just how flushed his face is from Claire completely outing him in front Louis. Harry opts to not make a comment and focuses back down on his flower crown, hyper aware of Louis' soft eyes constantly glancing at the side of his face that make his cheeks heat up even more. The three of them remain in this comfortable silence with Louis watching Claire and Harry finishing up with their flower crowns. Every now and then they spark up a conversation, but Louis really enjoys leaning back in his chair and watching Harry and Claire in the silence doing what they love to do. There are times when Harry and Louis end up talking about some of the memories they shared when they were together, and although they never realize they had gone down this path of reminiscing, Claire does, and Claire is over the moon watching the two boys interact so easily with one another right in front of her. It's really everything she wants right now, and it's everything she wants for Harry to have as well. 

After hours of the three of them hanging out in the hospital room, the nurse eventually comes in for the final time of the evening. Visiting hours are over, and Jenna and David are coming back into the hospital so they can spend another night with Claire. The nurse has to fill another dosage of medicine in Claire's IV bag for her to make it through the night without any pain, and since this medicine tends to make her sleepy, Harry and Louis quietly sneak out the room while Jenna and David get comfortable together on the couch, but before Louis has a chance to actually follow Harry out the room, Claire quickly grabs a hold of Louis' arm. 

"Hey," Claire whispers quietly, eyeballing the doorway to make sure Harry is out the room. When she realizes she is in the clear, she pulls Louis down to her level so she can whisper in his ear. "Do you remember that gift I gave you whenever you first came to visit me?" 

Louis nods his head, heart starting to beat faster in his chest. "Yeah, I still have it."

"Good," Claire smiles sadly, glancing at the door again and seeing Harry peek his head inside looking for Louis. Claire blinks her eyes back to Louis and swallows. "You know when to give it to him, right? It's almost time."

Louis sighs, nodding his head reluctantly because he rememebers so clearly what Claire had given him and why she was giving it to him. "Yeah, Claire Bear. I know when to give it to him." 

"Thank you, Louis," she whispers quietly, pressing a chaste kiss to the side of his cheek. "You know I'm rooting for the both of you." 

Louis smiles as he leans in to press a kiss to Claire's forehead. "So am I." Louis takes a step back and frees himself from Claire so he can join Harry out in the hallway. He sees Harry resting up against a wall with his head tilted on it as well. Louis takes notice of him quickly and walks over to join Harry. "Hey, you ready to head out?" Louis questions, suddenly stopping when he stands in front of Harry and notices that there are unshed tears in Harry's eyes. Louis frowns and immediately crowds Harry's space, cupping the sides of his face and gently wiping away some of the tears that manage to roll down Harry's cheek. "What's wrong, baby?"

Louis ignores the pet name because it just feels so good to call Harry that. 

"I know she doesn't have that much time left," Harry admits with a sniff, closing his eyes briefly as he takes in a heavy breath. "It's just hard to accept that one day she's here, and then one day she won't - " Harry pauses when a hiccup rises and a sob threatens to come out. He brings a hand up to cover his mouth and begins shaking his head because he really doesn't want to be crying like this outside of Claire's room. 

Louis immediately pulls Harry into a hug and holds him tight against his chest, using one hand to cup the back of Harry's head to keep him securely buried against his neck. "Hey, it's okay, love. I'm right here with you," Louis reassures softly, petting Harry's hair and rubbing his back, breathing in Harry's scent and just hoping that his arms are good enough to comfort the boy. "I know it's hard to deal with, but it's going to be okay, and I'm going to be with you through the whole thing."

Harry nods his head as if these are the words he needed to hear in order to feel better. He slowly pulls back when the wave of tears he felt start to go away, and he lets Louis' soft fingers run along the curve of his face while he reaches up to hold on to Louis' arm, needing Louis' touch and comfort as a way to anchor him to his spot. "Can I stay with you?" Harry eventually questions, voice shy and eyes darting to the floor because he feels slightly embarrassed for having to ask his ex boyfriend if he can stay the night with him. 

Although, Louis' expression doesn't give away any distaste to the suggestion. If anything, he smiles a little, heart beating quicker in his chest. The last time Harry came over to Louis' flat, sure it started off with Harry admitting Jake had kissed him, but it ended with the two of them having a much needed heart to heart in the living room. Harry, unfortunately, did not spend the night that night, but they did spend a lot of time together and sat too close to one another where it almost seemed like everything was back to normal. Truthfully, Louis would give anything to have Harry back in their bed and in his arms again. 

"Of course, H. You know you're always welcomed at my place."

Louis keeps an arm wrapped around Harry's waist as the two of them leave the hospital. Louis drives the both of them back to his flat and tries not to let the overwhelming feeling of having Harry spend the night consume him. They used to live together and sleep in the same bed every night so this is something he's done before. It's just, they haven't done this in forever, and if Louis is being honest, he's looking forward to having his cuddles with Harry again, and although it's mainly for the fact that Harry is upset tonight, Louis is still going to treasure this small moment with Harry. Louis goes into the kitchen to put the kettle on while Harry wanders off. Louis knows how much Harry likes to have a cup of tea before going to bed so he figures this would be something good to have in what he hopes will make Harry feel better. The tea only takes a couple minutes before the smoke starts going off, and Louis quickly takes the kettle off the stove and pours each of them a mug of tea. Once Louis has their teas settled, he grabs both cups and heads into the living room where he is expecting Harry to be, but once he steps into the room and notices that no curly boy is there, he hums thoughtfully and turns towards the cracked door of his bedroom. 

Louis is slightly shocked when he walks into the room to see Harry already laying down on what used to be his side of the bed, positioned to where his hands are tucked under his head and his legs are curled in close to his body. He has a blank face where he is staring out the window in the room, ignoring the way the moon is casting a bright glow right across his eyes. Louis frowns and walks over to Harry, setting Harry's tea on the nightstand before walking over to the arm chair by the dresser. Louis takes a seat in the chair and brings his mug up to his lips, blowing softly on the hot air before he's taking a tentative sip of his drink, all the while carefully looking at Harry's face. 

"What?" Harry questions when he realizes Louis' eyes have been set on him. He shifts on the bed so he's leaning up on an elbow while he grabs his mug of tea, taking a slow sip himself since the tea is still hot. "Aren't you going to join?" Harry then questions shyly, eyes widening slightly when he realizes how awkward this is starting to get. 

Louis raises his eyebrows at the suggestion and sets his mug down on top of the dresser. "Oh," he mumbles, flushing when he realizes there's a small hint of embarrassment starting to flare up. "If I'm being honest, I haven't really slept in this room all that much." 

He hates how shy he's getting from admitting this confession, but it's hard to admit to Harry that he hasn't had the heart to stay in their room because all the memories they have shared together is too overwhelming. It's kind of sad at the implied truth of Louis choosing to sleep on the couch instead of his bed all because he hasn't had Harry by his side at night. Louis can tell Harry realizes it by the surprised look on his face, and Louis has to quickly look away because the small, goofy grin starting to stretch across Harry's face makes Louis' so unsure of what he's supposed to be feeling right now. 

"Well, neither have I," Harry teases, taking a sip of his drink to hide the giggle that he's about to let out. 

Louis rolls his eyes at the lame attempt of the joke, but he's fucking over the moon having seen a small glimpse of Harry's goofy side come out. He loves it. He loves Harry. 

"You're hilarious," Louis settles with blandly. 

Harry softens his giggle to a smile and sets his mug on the nightstand, turning on the bed so he can rest his back against the head board, sighing after he gets settled. "You know, I just _uh_ \- I kind of want to pretend for one night that my little cousin isn't dying and that things between us are okay."

Louis stands from the chair and walks over to join Harry on his side of the bed, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and placing a hand on Harry's shin. "Things between us are okay."

"You know what I mean."

Louis nods because of course he knows what Harry means. Harry wants to pretend that everything in the world is normal and that the two of them are together and that they can go back to a time where Claire wasn't days away from passing. Harry just wants to forget everything and have one night where he doesn't feel like his world is falling apart, where they can just sleep in each other's arms and keep all their problems outside of the sheets, and if it's just for one night, Louis knows he'll move heaven and earth just to give that to Harry.

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**//**

Louis and Harry wake up the next morning and ride to the stadium together. Since Louis is going early to prepare for the game, Harry figures he can try to get there early as well to take some photos with Matt. Harry had tried to keep up his photography job these past months while Matt travelled with the football tour, but of course with everything that's been going on, it's been hard for Harry to commit to taking pictures for Chelsea. Today, though, Harry does have a little bit of motivation to actually take pictures, and he actually does have Louis to thank for his encouragement of pushing Harry to use photography as a good distraction from everything that's been weighing him down. 

The unfortunate thing to Harry finally walking back into the stadium to take pictures is that Chelsea is playing Arsenal today, and Arsenal means Flynn, which means this is the first time Harry will see Flynn since the day at the park, and Harry's really surprised with this revelation when he's out on the pitch and sees Flynn warming up with the rest of his team. Harry pauses right at the tunnel and lets out a deep sigh, feeling a shiver run through his bones that leaves him uncomfortable and slightly nauseous because seeing Flynn reminds Harry of _that day_ , and _that day_ is something Harry has tried to keep in the past. This is honestly the last thing Harry thought would happen when Louis encouraged him to come to the stadium to take pictures today. There's no way Louis knew who they were playing otherwise Harry is very positive that Louis would have told Harry to stay home. 

Harry slouches as he walks further on to the field to find a comfortable spot on the side lines to set up his spot, hoping Flynn won't cause too many issues with him being here. Chelsea still has not run out the tunnel yet, but Harry starts taking test shots with his camera to occupy his time while Arsenal begins running a light jog around the pitch. Of course, with Harry's luck, this mean Flynn runs by him, purposely trying to get under Harry's skin once he realizes Harry is actually within distance of him. 

"Harry," Flynn greets in a mocking tone, slowing his jog down until he's standing in front of Harry. Harry sighs as he sets his camera down, dreading whatever is about to come up. "Surprised to see you here. Should've jumped." Flynn winks and runs off. 

There's a truck that rams right through Harry's chest and knocks the breath completely out of him when Flynn's words sink a heavy hole inside his heart. He feels frozen in his spot as he watches Flynn's retreating figure, heart beting rapidly in his chest as he lets Flynn's words run rapidly through his mind. That day on the park has always haunted Harry, and he hates how weak he was in those moments where he was hysterically crying and seeking out a bridge that he wasn't sure if he was going to jump off of or not, but to have Flynn stand there and tell Harry that he should've done what he's scared of doing really makes Harry feel like shit. It kind of makes all those long months of recovery that Harry has been doing seem pointless since Flynn was the final straw that day that did push Harry to his complete break down, and it's like all the preparation Harry has been working on with Barnes in overcoming any of his weakness never prepared him for the moment where he would actually run into Flynn again. Harry should have known it was inevitable since they live in the same city. 

Harry doesn't realize he's been standing and staring off into space until Louis is walking up to him, shaking Harry from his thoughts by placing a hesitant hand on his shoulder. "Hey," Louis greets, eyebrows raised and looking concerned when Harry jolts at his sudden approach. "Are you okay?"

Harry snaps his eyes at Louis and gulps. "Y-yeah," he responds slowly, glancing past Louis and noticing Flynn looking in their direction, his cold eyes staring right at where Louis' hand is touching Harrys shoulder. "I-I'm fine," Harry tries to clarify. 

"Is it because Flynn's here? I swear Harry, I lost track of who we were playing today - "

"No, Louis. I'm fine, okay?"

Louis seems hesitant to believe Harry, but when the Coach blows his whistle to get the team to huddle up, he takes Harry's answer as it is and then runs over to join the team. Harry breathes a little better once he's alone, and he really tries his best to not let Flynn get to him while he takes photos. Harry loves photography, and he loves being at the stadium to capture pictures of the team playing so he really is looking forward to use photography as his outlet to distract himself from Claire. It does work for the majority of the game where Harry gets lost in the camera and the pictures. He finds himself enjoying the action shots he takes of Chelsea playing out in the field and admiring how amazing they look, but every now and then, when Harry feels like he can breathe without having to worry about anything, he's then interrupted with Flynn looking over at him or Flynn purposely getting too close to Louis. Harry watches as Flynn continuously tries to over step his boundaries by getting into Louis' space as much as possible, doing the best he can to make a show of how he gets to talk to Louis in front of everyone while Harry is stuck on the sidelines. It's as annoying as it is frustrating, and Harry hates how easy it is for Flynn to get under his skin without having any consequences of doing so. If Louis knew how truly malicious Flynn was, then Louis wouldn't even let Flynn anywhere near him, and Harry is just about near the point of being honest with himself and with Louis about the whole situation with Flynn. He's no longer able to keep quiet with the way Flynn keeps blatantly mocking him. 

So after the game, once Chelsea wins, Harry lingers around the tunnel, seeking Louis out in the crowd of his teammates and instantly relaxing once his eyes land on Louis' and Louis' natural instinct is to walk right to him. Louis slows his steps down when he does notice the slight frantic look on Harry's face, realizing that he looks stressed and not relieved, something Louis was aiming for with Harry coming here to take pictures. 

"What's the matter, babe?"

Harry sighs and reaches for Louis' arm, gently pulling them off to the side and waiting until all the other team members have left them alone. "I just - " Harry begins, taking in another breath and trying to stall, but Louis' warm hand caressing the side of his face pulls him back in. "I need to talk to you." 

"Okay, yeah, what is it?"

Harry lets out a heavy breath and blinks, trying his hardest not to look away. "It's about the day we broke up," Harry begins, swallowing nervously. "It's about Flynn. I saw him that day, before ... you know."

It takes a couple seconds of Harry to explain his run in with Flynn a few months ago and then again today before Louis completely goes ballistic. Louis hasn't had a lash out in months, nearly a year, but in this moment, Louis can't seem to control the overwhelming influx of emotions that start to consume his body. He barely lets Harry finish his words before he's taking off in a dead sprint towards the other side of the stadium where he knows the guest locker room is. Louis can't see straight or think properly. All he sees is red, and all he feels is anger, and there's nothing more he wants to do right now than to send his fist deep into Flynn's nose after hearing what Harry had to say about his run in with Flynn. 

Louis busts out the side doors of the arena where the opponents usually do their meet and greets with the fans and sees Flynn walking out to greet all the people around, but Louis doesn't stop walking to consider his actions. Instead, he charges right towards Louis, not thinking twice about what he's going to do. 

"You're a fucking piece of shit," Louis growls, pushing at Flynn's back and watching him stumble over his feet. Flynn is momentarily caught off guard by the sudden attack, but when he turns around to question what Louis is getting at, Louis sends a quick blow right to his chin. "You told my boyfriend that he should have jumped off the bridge? What the bloody hell is your problem?" Louis is seething as he charges after Flynn again, this time, being more forceful in pushing Flynn and causing him to fall on the floor. Louis growls as he walks over to him, getting on top of Flynn's body and sending another punch to his eye. "Who the fuck do you think you are to tell Harry he's anything like you?" 

Louis ignores the fact that all the fans around have now pulled their phones out and began screaming at everything that is happening. The paparazzi and press gather around and get as many photos and videos that they can capture, but Louis pays no attention to his surroundings. His anger is clouding his judgement, and all he can think about doing is unleashing this wrath inside of him on to Flynn, and he doesn't care who catches what. 

"I could fucking kill you for saying shit like that to Harry," Louis growls again, sending another punch to Flynn's other eye. Louis groans as he stands up, spitting on Flynn's face and kicking at his ribs as he shakes the pain from his fist. "What the actual fuck is wrong with you? You're a piece of shit, and I told you to leave me and Harry alone."

The fury that's rising inside of Louis is one he cannot stop from coming out. All there is is rage, but Louis having to hear that someone was purposely trying to push Harry over the edge is bringing on a newfound anger that Louis has never felt before. Louis can't see straight. He can't hear properly. His mind is spinning like crazy. Louis continues to send punches to Flynn's body, and he continuously kicks all over his sides. He doesn't even care that bruises and blood marks are covering over Flynn. He has no will to stop so he just keeps punching, and keeps kicking, and keeps doing whatever he can to hurt Flynn the way that Flynn hurt his Harry. 

It takes a few more minutes before Liam and Harry and running their way through the crowd, security guards and the coaches following behind in a frantic mess to get Louis off Flynn without somehow getting hurt in the cross fire. 

"Louis, stop it," Liam yells out, about to step forward to rip Louis off of Flynn, but he's stopped when Harry grabs his arm. 

"I got it," Harry reassures. Harry takes in a deep breath and really tries to ignore all the people intensively watching everything. He builds up the courage inside his body and walks up to Louis, carefully, gently grabbing on to Louis' arm and pulling him off of Flynn with ease. Louis instantly relaxes when he has Harry's touch on him, and all the anger and fury inside of him starts to dissipate when Harry's beautiful green eyes bring him back to a reality. "Louis, it's okay. You're okay." Harry brings a shaky hand up to caress the side of Louis' face, doing his best to make Louis focus on him rather than his anger. "Louis?" Harry whispers, seeing Louis slowly return to himself. 

Louis doesn't take his eyes off of Harry while the security guards try to clear out the area. Liam lingers around Louis and Harry to make sure Louis is calm enough for them to be around while some of the trainers come running out the stadium to take care of Flynn. Once all the fans and paparazzi have left and Flynn is taken to the clinic to get looked at, Louis' Coach finally steps into the situation and breaks Harry and Louis apart. Harry backs up into Liam and steps aside while Coach looks angrily at Louis. 

"Get in my office," he demands. 

Coach doesn't wait for a response. He walks past them all to head back into the building while Liam, Harry and Louis stand there dubiously. Louis doesn't look up from where he started looking at the ground. After the wave of his anger has hit, he starts to feel the aftershock of depression. He has tears instantly filling his eyes and a heavy weight pressing on his shoulders. Harry is ready to step forward to check on Louis, but Louis is quickly turning on his feet and following his Coach by heading into the arena and going straight to his office. The minute Louis makes it into the room, he closes the door and takes a seat in the chair in front of the Coach's desk, feeling an odd sense of familiarity from when Louis used to be in this position in his earlier years with this program. This time, however, is different. 

"Louis," Coach sighs, crossing his hands together on top of his desk, sounding tired and angry. "What the hell were you thinking? I thought we were over this shit."

Ironically, Louis is over this shit. He hasn't had to deal with anything like this for the past couple of years, but when people cross the line in talking shit about Harry, Louis realizes there's nothing that can hold him back, not even the good image that his Coach wants him to maintain. 

"Coach," Louis eventually says, sounding monotone, staring blankly at where Coach's hands are resting on the desk, wedding ring visible on his left hand. "Have you ever been in love?" he questions. 

Coach lifts his eyebrow, hesitant. "Yes. I'm married."

Louis finally shows a reaction, now glancing up at his Coach. "Then you must know how heartbreaking it is when you see the love of your life so fucking hurt that there's a split second where you fear they might actually end their life."

"I can't say that I know what that feels like," Coach admits with a swallow. 

"Well, it fucking sucks," Louis states bluntly. "I've had to watch to watch all of that for the past year, and I did absolutely nothing about it. I failed."

Coach sighs, "Louis - "

"I love, Harry, more than I ever thought I could love somebody," Louis interrupts, not letting Coach have the chance to speak. "So when there is someone out there, purposely trying to break down the one person I love the most in the world, or making him hate himself so much that the idea of jumping off a ... " Louis pauses when he chokes up, trying to regroup by relieving in a heavy breath. "Coach, I don't care who it is, nor do I care about any other thing, but I will do whatever I can to protect Harry until I take my last, living breath. I will fight anyone who ever threatens to make Harry feel unsafe, and I don't care what the costs are. Harry is forever to me, and everything else doesn't matter."

Louis leaves before he gives the coach a chance to make a response. 

//

**Read below of Chelsea's head coach releasing a state regarding the fight that broke out between star Louis Tomlinson of Chelsea and rookie Flynn Johnson of Arsenal right after the match.**

_"On behalf of my player Louis Tomlinson, I wanted to set this public announcement straight and praise my captain for standing up in what he believes in. Although his actions are unorthodox, not something I approve, he did what he did because he was defending someone he loved, and I respect that. I would take a captain who fights for what matters to him over someone who lives to tear others down with malicious words. After years of seeing Louis trying to find who he is outside of football, I think it's very clear Louis knows exactly what he wants. I may not condone fighting, but I do praise Louis on chosing love over everything, and I respect him for putting his partner's honor in front of everything else. That is all I have to say."_

//

Louis knew whatever happened after the game would end up causing a huge speculation all throughout social media. Louis is thankful his coach was able to release a nice enough statement on his behalf, but everyone is wanting Louis to make a comment regarding the situation. So, of course, Zayn, Louis' wonderful personal assistant and pretty much Louis' pr, had scheduled for Louis to make an appearance on a talk show to address all the drama that is surrounding him. Zayn figured this would be the best thing for Louis to do since he intended on making a comment, and Zayn knew going on a scripted television show is a lot safer than throwing Louis out into the press with an influx of invasive questions being targeted right at him. With the TV interview, Zayn is able to approve and disapprove of any questions so Zayn knows this is the best route of Louis finally addressing his fight with Flynn. 

The only unfortunate thing to this television interview is that it's scheduled on what's supposed to be Harry and Louis' three year anniversary. It's not like Louis really has to plan anything romantic or spend his day with Harry, but something he never really intended was going on air in front of thousands of people while his heart is yearning for Harry's love. It's quite the predicament, but Louis knows going on television to talk about his burst of anger is what is best for his public image and for the team's public image. 

Just as Louis is about to leave his flat and get into the car that drives him to the building where the interview is held, there is a knock on his front door. Louis frowns and quickly checks his phone to make sure he isn't late, but he sees the time, not late, and sees his messages, nothing, and is confused as to who can be visiting him right before he's scheduled to leave. Louis walks over to the door and opens it up to see his curly headed, green eyed boy standing there with hands pressed behind his back and a shy smile on his face. 

"Harry?" Louis questions confusedly, raising an eyebrow. 

Harry blushes as he moves his hands from behind his back to unveil the flowers he's been holding, outstretching the bundle in Louis' direction and smiling when Louis grabs a hold of them. "It's our anniversary, you know?" Harry explains. 

Louis' smile grows wide as he lets out a breathy laugh, admiring the white Lilies that Harry had brought him. "You're right about that," he cheekily says, blinking his eyes up at Harry and sighing softly. "Happy Anniversary then." 

"Happy Anniversary, Lou."

Harry ends up tagging along with Louis to his interview. Since this is the day they started dating, and despite the two of them being broken up, they both figured this day would be better spent together rather than spent apart. It was a good enough reason for Louis to have Harry join him on his ride over to the interview building, and he's really never one to deny time spent with Harry so of course he would love to have Harry by his side as he goes on national television to talk about the fight he had in honor of this man he's in love with. It ends up working perfectly because he enjoys his glamor time of Gigi getting him styled all the while Harry sits on the couch and watches him. For a moment, it does kind of feel like old times with Gigi and Louis bickering, Zayn edging them on, and Harry's snarky comments that make Louis laugh. It's nice, for another moment, to feel like things between them are so normal, and Louis is loving every second of it. 

After Louis is finished getting dressed and styled by Gigi, Louis and Harry end up walking backstage until the two of them are standing right off the interview stage. The commercial break is on, and once the show comes back on, the interviewer will bring Louis out for his segment of the show. Right before Louis is called out onto the stage, Harry quickly gives Louis a hug before he's letting him go so he can make his appearance on air. Louis' more than thankful he's doing his interview with Erin Walters again. The last time he was on this show, everything went smoothly, and Louis' really glad Zayn chose her for the interview. 

"Welcome back to _Walter’s World,_ I am Erin Walters, and this afternoon we have our favorite football player, Louis Tomlinson, joining us for a second time on this show."

The audience claps as Louis waves at them before he's taking a seat across Erin. "Hello. Great to be back."

"We love having you here," Erin admits with a smile, leaning back in her seat and resting her note cards on her legs. "So," she begins, a dramatic pause in between breaths that has the audience already laughing. "A lot has happened since the last time you were here." 

Louis tilts his head side to side, trying not to laugh himself. "You can say that." 

"You punch an Arsenal player."

The audience begins laughing louder, some even cheering that has Louis shaking his head amusedly. 

"I suppose I did do that," Louis teases, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Well, I think the whole world would like to know what happened, yeah?" Erin turns to the audience and encourages their agreement with a wave of her hand. She then smiles and turns back to Louis. "I mean, if scoring three goals on them isn't enough, lets add a black eye, yeah?"

Louis snorts. "To be honest, I punched him because he was going after someone I love. It was hard for me _not_ to do something about it."

The audience starts to coo, and without Louis' knowledge, there's a paparazzi picture of Harry and Louis showing up on the screen behind him from when the two of them were caught arriving at the stadium together. 

"So is this person you're talking about the same person that you're rumored to be broken up with?" Erin hints, wiggling her eyebrows. "Or more like rumored to be getting back together with?"

Louis laughs nervously at the question and glances down to his lap. "That so called person is actually here."

Harry groans when he sees Erin's head immediately jerk in his direction, eyes lighting up as if seeing Harry had just made her whole night. Harry presses a hand to his forehead and begins shaking his head, hating Louis so much right now. 

"Oh, there he is, how wonderful." 

"It's actually our three year anniversary," Louis adds for good measure, the whole audience instantly awing at. Louis blushes and glances off side, catching Harry's eye and subtly winking in his direction. 

"Well, happy anniversary then. I'm glad you decided to spend your special day on my show," Erin jokes. "So, you two are not broken up then?"

"I mean," Louis shrugs, letting out a heavy breath. "No matter what's going on, Harry will always be in my heart. I'll love him forever."

"That's beautiful, Louis," Erin compliments softly, reaching over to rub her hand on Louis' shoulder. "I noticed you have been a lot more active on social media regarding your relationship with Harry so I was curious to know how you've been handling everything that's been going on online, especially after this hiccup you had after the game."

THe paparazzi picture on the screen ends up changing to pictures of tweets Louis has sent to hateful fans. Harry's interest perk up when he sees all the tweets Louis replied to towards fans who have made hurtful comments regarding Harry or regarding Louis' relationship with Harry. Since Harry deleted his twitter, he really hasn't kept up with what people are saying about him, and he never really knew that Louis had been defending him for months and pretty much telling all the haters to fuck off. There are even some tweets of Louis telling fans to piss off when they tweet about how much they prefer Louis with Flynn rather than with Harry. It comes to a massive surprise for Harry having seen those photos. 

"I mean I realized the hard way that what people say can be so negative and really impact the person their talking about. For the longest time, I just brushed it aside because I never wanted to disrespect my fans, but it eventually came to a point that I couldn't sit there and let these people go on and talk like this about a person I love. If sticking up for Harry and my relationship with Harry ends with me losing a fanbase, then so be it. I'd give it all up for him if I had to, but I had to make people know that Harry isn't just some person I'll let people talk shit about."

After the interview is finished, Louis steps off the stage and goes back to his room to clean up. Harry remains quiet the entire time and aimlessly follows Louis around until the two of them are getting back into the car and heading to Louis' flat. He doesn't bother to make any comment until the two of them are sitting on the couch in the living room, Louis anxiously looking at Harry and just waiting for him to say _something_ about what he had said on the show. 

"So," Harry finally speaks, swallowing nervously and twiddling his fingers together in his lap. "You defended me on twitter?"

"I did, yeah." 

Harry raises an eyebrow, finally looking at Louis' face. "Why now?"

"Well, I _uh -_ , " Louis sighs as he tries to think of a proper way to explain himself, suddenly feeling nerves take over his body. "I meant what I said on the show. I'm an idiot, Harry, for not listening to you and for not paying attention to you. I was your boyfriend, and you were supposed to trust me in protecting our relationship, and I never did. I looked past everything that was hurting you and focused on what I wanted to do, and I hate that it took you breaking up with me for me to realize this. I should've been better, I should've stood up for you. I should've supported you. I should've listened to you. I should've taken care of you, but I didn't. I just, I was focused on myself."

Harry's lips tilt to a frown as he reaches for Louis' hand, tangling their finger's together and scooting closer. "Louis, it's okay. I could've done things myself to help prevent things from escalating, but I didn't either."

"Harry, it's not okay," Louis corrects, suddenly feeling emotional. "Fuck, Harry, I made you second guess the love I had for you, and that broke my heart because I knew that it was my fault for ever letting that happen. I hate that I made you feel so sad, and I hate that you lost your smile around me. I only ever want to make you happy, but I just - I guess I wasn't able to do that anymore."

There are tears in Harry's eyes as Louis pulls him into a hug, and he instantly buries his nose into Louis' neck to use his cuddle as a way to comfort his heart. 

"Harry, I still love you," Louis continues, arm wrapping tightly around Harry's body and having the strong urge to pull the boy on his lap. He doesn't. He just continues to hold Harry to his chest and snuggle him. "I'm always going to love you. I will do anything for you, okay? And if that means I have to wait weeks, months, years, decades, just for you to let your heart heal, then I'll do it. I'll wait an eternity for you because you're worth all of that to me."

//

As good as some days have been, today is different. Today, Harry got a call from his mother that he needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible so he ended up rushing out of Louis' flat to go see Claire. Louis knows this call can only mean one thing, and it's not something good. Louis has known that Claire's days are limited, and since the last time he saw her, things have not been looking good. Louis has feared for this day since the minute he knew Claire was admitted to the hospital, and he knew that he needed to be prepared for whatever it is that Harry will be asking of him. All Louis knows is that he's going to be there for him and do whatever he can to help Harry through this difficult time. 

Louis just doesn't know what to expect. He doesn't know how Harry will be or what kind of state he will be in, but the best he can do is let Harry know that he's there, and that he will always be there, even when Harry leaves the hospital in a mess, Louis wants Harry to know that Louis will be waiting. So in the mean time, Louis has been cleaning. He isn't sure what else to do. He's feeling so anxious and nervous, and all he can think about is dusting off the mantle of his fire place over and over again until there is a breathy sob coming from behind him that pulls his focus from cleaning on to something else. Louis immediately jerks his body around when he registers that it's Harry who had made it back to his flat, standing on the other side of the couch with his face drenched in tears and heart broken on the floor. 

"L-Louis," Harry whimpers sadly, closing his eyes and just-fucking-bawling. 

Louis quickly leaves his place by the mantel and rushes up to harry, pulling his body so forcefully into his own and hugging him so tightly to his chest that there is no room for Harry to escape. Harry falls into Louis' hold easily, but he has something in his hands that prevents Louis from fully having him close. Louis frowns as he feels an object pressing up against his belly, and when he pulls away slightly, he sees that Harry is holding on to the flower crown that Claire had been wearing around the hospital, the one Louis had made for her. 

"P-please, Louis," Harry tries to say, hiccuping in between words as he lifts the crown in between their bodies. "I want - I want to be your princess again."

Louis' face softens, and his heart completely shatters. "Oh, baby," he whispers, hands reaching to cup Harry's face because all he wants to do right now is comfort Harry with his touch. "You're always going to be my princess, you know that."

"I love you, Louis," Harry continues, using a hand to wipe under his eyes with the collar of his shirt. Harry sniffles as another wave of tears come through. "I-I can't go another day of not being with you. Please, don't make me do it. Please, Louis. I miss you so much. I love you so much, and I just - " Harry stops as a pitiful sob belts out of him. 

Louis shushes Harry softly as he pulls Harry into another hug, being mindful of Claire's flower crown in between their bodies. "H, baby, we don't have to do this right now, okay?" Louis runs his hand up and down Harry's back and continues his attempt in calming Harry down. "It's not the right time."

"You think I'm crying because of Claire?" Harry questions frustratedly, pulling himself away from Louis' neck. His face is so sad and heartbroken that Louis can't stand to see it. His own heart is shattering just by the look on Harry's face, and he even feels himself starting to get emotional with the tears that are now watering up his eyes. "Louis, I've already cried my tears for Claire. I've already got my goodbye with her. I've accepted that I have to now live my live without her in it. What I haven't accepted is living my life without you by my side. I'm crying, because for the last couple of months, I've been so fucking miserable, and all I've wanted was for you to be there with me. All Claire has been doing in her final days is reminding my why I fell in love with you in the first place and using her last, final breaths to say how ridiculous I was in throwing away a relationship that she has always dreamed of having. I sit there and complain to her about how much I love you and miss you without having done anything about it, without realizing that Claire will never get the chance to experience any kind of love because she's fucking dying. Today, I wanted you there with me. I wanted your hand in mine or your arm around my waist. I just wanted you because you bring me this comfort that no body else can, and it hurts me everyday to know that we are not together - that we're not together because we're too focused on things that don't matter. Claire reminds me of what matters and it's you, Louis, you matter the most to me."

"Harry - "

"You know what the last thing she told me is?" Harry interrupts, not bothering to wait for a response from Louis. "She told me, _you only have one life to live with the person you love. Make sure you're spending every day with that person because you never know what's going to happen._ You're the person I want to spend my days with Louis. There's no one else I can do that with. Don't you want that as well?"

Louis lips curve up slightly as he leans in to press a kiss to Harry's cheek. "Of course I want that, love," he reassures gently, hands reaching up to caress the sides of Harry's jaw. "I just - I want to make sure you're okay with doing this. I know there's a lot going on, but I want you to be sure you're ready to be my boyfriend again."

"I'm more than sure," Harry responds with a smile, laughing under his breath as Louis begins wiping underneath his eyes to get rid of the tears. "I think it's about time I finally start making myself happy, and you make me happy."

Louis leans in to press a chaste kiss to Harry's lips, loving how euphoric it feels to have Harry's lips on his again. Fuck, it feels so good, even if it was just a simple peck. 

"Claire gave me something. She wanted me to show you it whenever this day came." 

Harry raises an eyebrow, sniffing when he starts to feel the aftermath of all the crying. "What is it?"

Louis quickly detangles himself from Harry and walks over to the mantel he had been spending way too much time cleaning. He smiles when he sees the object Claire had given him standing proudly on the shelf. Louis reaches up and grabs a hold of it before he's walking back to Harry, showing off the item he is talking about. 

"It's an angel," Harry whispers, fingers delicately reaching out to grab it, tracing the lining of the wings and the halo. More tears end up springing to Harry's eyes. 

"Her name is engraved," Louis adds softly, pointing to where Claire is shown right on the heart of the angel. "She gave it to me back when I first met her - we were at dinner, and she snuck it to me after I gave you two the matching necklaces." 

Harry mindlessly reaches up to grab the lily charm dangling around his neck, smiling at the thought of Claire wearing hers as well. 

"She also gave me this charm," Louis continues, pulling out the second part of the gift Claire had given him. It's a similar angel to the one Harry is holding, but this one is a small charm that can be added to his necklace. Louis shows Harry this and smiles when Harry gasps. "She knew this day would come, even back then, and she wanted you to know that no matter what, she'll always be a part of you."

"Will you put it on my necklace?" Harry questions softly, voice struggling due to the tears he's trying to hold back. 

Louis nods his head and grabs the charm from Harry's hand. Harry smiles weakly and turns around so his back is facing Louis. Since Harry's hair has gotten a little longer, he has to lift it off his neck so Louis has access to the chain. Louis unclips Harry's necklace and loops the angel charm through, clipping the chain back together and letting Harry's necklace dangle freely around his neck. Once the angel is set next to the lily charm, Harry turns back around and crowds into Louis' place, wrapping his arms around Louis' neck and pulling him in for a kiss. 

There are sparks that go off when Harry's lips meet Louis'. It's the best feeling in the world of their lips moving together as if they haven't missed a beat, as if they haven't done this in months. A fire ignites inside of Louis as his hands make their way around Harry's back, caressing his body softly as he gently pries Harry's lips apart with the press of his tongue. 

"Oh, I love this," Harry moans in between kisses, cheekily smiling as he sucks Louis' tongue in his mouth. "I love you," he adds for good measure. 

"I love you more, Harry." 

And it's taken a while for the two of them to get to where they are, but they made it. After all the bullshit they endured and the struggle of dealing with Claire's passing, they are able to stand together proudly. Louis was there for Harry when the family started making the arrangements for her funeral, and Louis was there holding Harry's hand when they had watch her casket get lowered in to the ground. It was hard having to see Harry so broken and so sad, but he knew the two of them were going to be okay now that they had each other. They spent time together at the grave giving their final goodbyes, placing lilies all over the ground and making crowns right next to her tombstone. They stayed up late to talk about the memories they shared with Claire, some nights Louis having to hold Harry as he fought through the tears that kept him up at night, but they healed together, they had each other. 

It's been a hard week of adjusting to this new life without Claire, but despite all the goodbyes they have done since her passing, Harry and Louis know that Claire will always live in their hearts, no matter what. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** love u bby xx


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so now we start getting into the mPreg stuff !! WOOOHOOO. It only took a billion chapters, but we made it LOL.
> 
> also, ps, sorry i took forever to upload a chapter. ):

It's a long road that Harry and Louis take until they are in a stable place again, but they do get there with a lot of patience and compassion. There were, of course, some good days, and then there were some bad days, but with everything that had been going on between Harry and Louis, they were both able to push past it peacefully. The main struggle was Harry mourning over Claire and Louis trying his best to remain by Harry's side when some nights were harder than others. Harry tried to cope by talking to Louis and talking to Barnes. He tried to use photography as an outlet and flower crown making as a distraction. He went to Claire's grave more times than not, and he reminisced all of the photos he had saved on his phone of him and Claire throughout the years she was alive. It was a difficult time for Harry to adjust without his little cousin within a phone call away, but Harry was able to make do. He grieved. He cried. He mourned, and he healed, all the while having the best support system by his side who never once wavered his love for Harry. 

So that's why, when Louis saw the major improvements with Harry's grieving, and he had a break from his practices with Chelsea, he booked the two of them a trip to the Caribbean. The trip is meant for the two of them to finally relax and unwind from the stress they had been dealing with for the past few months. Since the break up, everything had been chaos between Harry and Louis, and now that they are back together, and all their problems are starting to dissolve, Louis figured it would be best if they got away and finally enjoyed their time together. 

Plus, it goes without saying, the two of them miss sex. 

"Haz, are you ready? The car should be coming soon," Louis yells out after lounging around on the couch. Louis had finished packing the night before since he was highly prepared for this trip. Harry, on the other hand, had been a mess trying to make sure he packed enough clothes for the days they'll be in the Caribbean. Harry spent about half an hour going through his accessories, and Louis' patience is starting to wear thin because they _do_ have a flight to catch, and Harry trying to pack his entire closet is not going to be the reason why they're late. 

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Harry responds with a huff. 

Harry exits the bedroom with two suitcases in hand and walks them over to where Louis' bags are already waiting. Louis watches him go and shakes his head because really, they're only going to be gone for a week, not a month. Louis stands up from the couch and walks over to meet Harry by the door, ready to greet his boy with a kiss, but Harry is quick in his movements and easily pulls Louis in his hold. Harry smiles as his arms wrap around Louis' neck, lips inching closer until their pressing against his own. 

"You finally ready?" Louis teases, hand sneaking underneath Harry's shirt so he can touch the warm skin of his back. 

Harry hums and kisses Louis' mouth again. "I'm more than ready," he whispers, biting on his bottom lip as he moves his head closer to Louis' ear, hot breath fanning against Louis' skin and causing a shiver to run down his spine. "I'm more than ready for you," he breathily says, inching closer and pressing a soft kiss to the curve of Louis' jaw. "More than ready for - " Harry pauses as he pushes his hips forward into Louis', hinting at what he's ready for, giggling when Louis tilts his head back with a groan. 

"Don't tease," Louis complains, hands dropping down to Harry's ass and punishing him with a small slap. Harry giggles some more and finally pulls back a little, smiling cheekily as he uses his finger to wipe at Louis' bottom lip. "You know I can't wait for all of that. My right hand _has_ been getting tired."

Harry lets out a loud, horse cackle. "Don't you worry about that. I have ways to fix that."

"I'm sure you do, baby." 

Louis lifts an eyebrow as he draws Harry back in for another kiss, arm tightening around his waist so every inch of their bodies can touch. Louis presses his lips against Harry's and licks his way inside Harry's mouth like he's done before, but this kiss holds more intensity and more heat that Louis' ready to push for more. Louis is too lost in the kiss, and too lost in the way Harry's fingers curl against the back of his head to not notice his phone going off or the buzzer from the lobby signaling someone trying to get inside the building. The way Harry's soft moans and his breathy gasps are ringing so beautifully through Louis' ears make all the outside noises completely irrelevant if it's not Harry making them. There are butterflies that erupt in the pit of Louis' belly when he gets his hands back on Harry's ass, feeling all the heat and electricity radiating from his body and showing off just how horny he's getting from this simple kiss. Well, the kiss isn't simple, per say. Louis is kissing the living daylights out of Harry and leaving a hot trail of his burning touches all over his body, and if it wasn't for the front door of the flat opening and someone clearing their throat to interrupt the two of them from kissing, then Louis honestly probably would've stripped Harry right out his clothes. 

"Can you two seriously not wait until you're at least on the plane?" Zayn complains, his voice giving away that he's the one who had barged in on Harry and Louis. 

Louis pulls his face away from Harry's, keeping their bodies close, and glares over at Zayn. "It's not my fault you walked in. Should've knocked."

"I did," Zayn argues back. "Multiple times."

Hary giggles under his breath and actually pulls his body away from Louis'. He walks over to grab both his bags and meets Zayn at the door, smiling cheekily. "You know, I've never had sex on a plane. Thanks for the suggestion, Z." Harry hums and walks out the flat to catch the elevator, leaving Zayn's standing in the doorway looking back at Louis as if he just heard something crazy. 

"You corrupted him," is what Zayn reasons with. Zayn lets out a sigh and grabs Louis' suitcase for him while Louis shoulders his backpack. 

"Hey, he's not corrupted," Louis argues with a pout, following Zayn down the hallway after he locks up his flat. He frowns when he notices that Harry already took the elevator down, and now the two of them have to wait for the next one to come get them. He rolls his eyes and presses the down button. "Plus, we just got back together, and it's been awhile since we've had sex."

Zayn lifts an eyebrow. "You two haven't had sex yet?" 

"No, like I said ... it's been forever, and I'm ready to have it again."

"Okay, enough," Zayn groans. The elevator finally reaches their floor, and the two of them get inside to head down towards the lobby. "I really don't want to hear about your sex life with Harry. Especially if that's all you two will be doing for the next week. Some things are better left unsaid."

The two of them walk out the elevator once they reach the lobby and then head outside where the car is already waiting for them. Zayn hands the suitcase over to the driver so he can put it in the trunk and steps off to the side so he's out of the driver's way in loading the truck. 

"I miss having sex with harry," Louis eventually perks up, right before Zayn is reaching for the car door. 

Zayn halts his movement and turns to glare at Louis, grimacing as he does so. "Shut the hell up."

"He's got a good ass, you know." 

Zayn closes his eyes and covers his face. "I don't want to hear it." 

"It feels good to be inside - "

"I will cut your balls off if you don't shut up," Zayn interrupts, clearly not as amused as Louis who breaks into a fit of giggles. "It's great the two of you are back together and happy and all that sappy shit, but I don't care about your sex life. At all. Not even a little bit."

Louis breaks out into the cheekiest smile, hand resting on the door handle as he turns to look at Zayn sincerely. "I really am happy, mate." 

"That's great," Zayn says truthfully, reaching over to pat at Louis' shoulder. "I knew the two of you would find your way back to each other. You deserve to be happy with Harry."

Louis' face softens. "And you deserve to be happy with Gigi. Now you two can fuck all the time, kind of like what Harry and I will be doing - "

"Alright, off you go," Zayn interrupts again. He pulls Louis hand away from the car and opens the door for him, already pushing Louis inside the vehicle and waving him off. Before Louis can even make a comment in return, Zayn is already slamming the door shut. Louis falls back against the seat with a laugh, not realizing that Harry is anxiously waiting in the spot next to him and eagerly staring at the side of Louis' face like he's waiting for something to happen. 

"Hello," Harry says when Louis still doesn't pay attention to him. 

Louis jolts at Harry's voice and tilts his head in Harry's direction, face softening once he gets a look at the green of Harry's eyes. Louis reaches up to caress the side of Harry's jaw. "Hi, love."

Louis is more than thankful he rented out a car with a roomy back seat because Harry is quickly pulling Louis on top of his body as he lays himself down on the cushion of the seat. Louis makes himself fit on top of Harry by resting himself in between Harry's legs, one hand resting on a spot next to Harry's head and the other going to hold one of Harry's legs against his hip. Harry bites his lip as his hands reach up around Louis' neck, dragging him down in a heady kiss before Louis is hastily pulling back at the sound of the driver getting inside the vehicle. 

"We need to put the wall divider up." 

Harry raises an eyebrow. "You mean the partition?"

"Yeah," Louis agrees, glancing at the door in front of him to find the button that lifts the wall to block the front from the back of the car. He finds it within a matter of seconds and quickly clicks it, smiling happily when the partition begins to roll up. "There. Privacy."

Harry lips curve into a smirk once they are alone, and he trails one hand from the back of Louis' neck to the front of his shirt, mindlessly tracing Louis' pec. "We have about an hour before we get to the airport," Harry notes coyly, blinking innocently up at Louis who has now taken precedence in looking at Harry's face. Harry blushes when he realizes Louis had been staring at him. "There's kind of a lot we can do to occupy our time." 

"Oh really?" Louis questions with a smirk, raising his eyebrows in curiosity. "What might you suggest then?" Louis doesn't really wait for an answer, already ducking down and sucking a kiss right at the dip of Harry's neck. 

Harry lets out a breathy moan when the sting of Louis' teeth and the lick of his velvety tongue run over his skin, sending an electrifying shrill through his body that has his back caving off the seat and his legs tightening around Louis' waist. Harry is already breathing heavy with the way Louis is rocking his hips into his own and his hand is squeezing tightly around his thigh. Louis' lips work magic as they wrap around Harry's shoulder, sucking in another mark that has a desperate whine coming deep from within Harry's throat. Harry now brings both his hands to Louis' joggers, getting his hands inside so he can touch the bare skin of Louis' ass, realizing quite quickly that Louis opted out of wearing any boxers underneath his pants. Harry closes his eyes and sighs, so happy that his boyfriend is already prepared for what Harry has been silently asking for. 

"You must be eager, huh?" Harry manages to get out in between breathy gasps, gently pulling Louis' joggers over the swell of his ass so that the good parts of Louis are exposed. Harry smiles as Louis pulls back to look in between their bodies, noticing his cock is already near hard and his commando status had been revealed. "Don't worry," Harry eases, moving his hands to the buttons of his blouse and beginning to undo them for Louis, smiling as Louis' blue eyes watch his fingers carefully. "I'm not wearing any underwear either."

Louis' eyes nearly roll to the back of his head as he reaches to undo Harry's jeans. "Fuck," he whines. 

"Yes, please."

Louis carefully backs off of Harry so the two of them can maneuver their bodies in getting rid of clothes. Louis pulls his joggers off the rest of the way until they are pooling around his ankles. He nearly rips his shirt over his head and tosses it somewhere on the floor just as Harry is yanking his insanely tight jeans off his body. Harry blinks over at Louis once he's completely naked, well, his blouse is still open and hanging off his shoulders, but his ass and his cock are exposed, and that's good enough for Louis. Louis smiles at Harry and reaches for him until he's helping the boy sit on his waist. Harry smirks when his bare ass rubs against Louis' cock, giggling as he shimmies his hips so he can rub teasingly against Louis. Louis responds by playfully smacking Harry's ass, loving the sharp sound of his hand making contact with Harry's skin.

 _Fuck_ , he missed this so much. 

"So, what now?" Harry questions cheekily, biting his lip as he plays with the strands of hair tickling Louis' neck. He still doesn't stop rubbing his ass over Louis' cock, but Louis is too lost in the moment to even care because all he can think about is Harry and Harry's body, and how Harry is now naked in his hold, and they still have a long car ride to get at least one orgasm in. 

"I really want you to sit on my face if we're being honest here." 

Harry's eyes widen in surprise, hips slowing to a stop. "You - _what_?"

"I want to taste you," Louis continues, running his hands down the expanse of Harry's long, curvy back before he's digging his fingers into the meat of Harry's ass. Harry's body twitches at the feel, but he's instantly curving into Louis' touch. "Just turn around, and let me take care of you."

Harry pouts, and Louis has to refrain from rolling his eyes because a pouty, horny Harry will be the death of him. 

"What if I want to take care of you?" Harry questions stubbornly. 

Louis shrugs his shoulders and thrust his hips up, eyebrows raising when Harry chokes on his breath. "I never said you couldn't baby."

There's a shiver that runs down Harry's spine with the way Louis' eyes darken, staring back at him as if he's ready to completely devour Harry, which, from what Harry believes, that is exactly what Louis wants, and that is exactly what Harry wants as well. Harry's lips curve up into a smile as he backs off of Louis so Louis can properly lay down on the seat. Once Louis gets on his back, Harry wiggles his way on top of Louis and sits comfortably on his belly, hands reaching out to run over the soft skin of Louis' chest, watching as Louis tilts his head thoughtfully before he's reaching out to grip Harry's hips. 

"Turn around for me," Louis demands.

Harry stutters for a second as he tries to process Louis' demand. He knows Louis wants to touch and to taste, but with how cramp the back seat of this car is, Harry isn't entirely sure how he's supposed to fit his long body on top of Louis' like this when his head is nearly touching the ceiling. But, Harry complies. He always complies when it comes to Louis because he trust Louis with everything, and he trusts Louis' judgement with whatever it is they have planned for this moment so as awkward and gangly as Harry is, he manages to turn around so his back and his ass is facing Louis' face. Which, Harry can't complain about this new view because one, he gets to see the city passing by out the window, and two, he's got Louis' cock right in front of him, hard and ready to be sucked. 

_Oh_ , Harry cannot wait to have an orgasm with Louis again. It's been too long, and he's been way too desperate for it to happen. 

Harry is only momentarily distracted by all his beautiful sights before cold hands are gripping his waist, causing his body to involuntarily jump at the sensitive touch. Harry slightly turns his head over his shoulder and watches Louis drag his body backwards until his ass is resting right on top of Louis' pecs. There a cold shiver that runs through Harry's spine in anticipation for what is about to happen, but nothing truly prepares him for the first press of Louis' lips right at the swell of his bare ass. Harry closes his eyes at the sweet sensation of Louis' hands and lips touching all over his bum as if he's taking in every inch of Harry. It's almost overwhelming at first with how Louis' hot breath fans over Harry's skin and the way his fingers dig into the flesh of Harry's ass. Harry tries to keep his breathing calm, but then Louis is pressing a hand at the top of Harry's back and forcing him to bend forward, using his fingers to spread Harry open before pressing kisses on the inside of Harry's ass cheek. 

"Fuck, Louis," Harry breathlessly says, hunched over on Louis' body and trying not to let Louis' cock in his face become too much of a distraction. Harry quite wants to be aware of Louis licking him out, but with just a few amount of kisses and the touch of his fingers is already enough to make Harry lose all his senses to the outside world. 

"I need you to sit on my face, love," Louis ends up saying, fingers digging in deeper at where they are holding on to Harry. 

Harry lifts his eyebrow and does his best to wiggle backwards, but when the new position is still not enough for Louis, Louis ends up taking matter into his own hands by wiggling his body further down the seat until Harry's ass touching his chin. 

"Louis," Harry says nervously, rising up on his knees a little. He's not sure what he's saying or what he's asking for, but there's uncertainty with the way his voice waivers from saying Louis' name, like he's unsure of what he's exactly supposed to do to satisfy Louis. They've never really done this before, and Harry doesn't want to ruin anything with his nerves. 

"Just sit, love," Louis repeats in a softer tone, free hand running up Harry's spine to comfort him and remind him that this is something he wants. Louis' trusts Harry, and he trusts him enough to be suffocated by him. That's love, real love.. 

Harry does as told and finally sits himself right over Louis' face, biting back the moan that threatens to come out when he feels the first lick of Louis' tongue run over his rim. Harry mewls as Louis begins licking at him, fingers digging into the pudge of Harry's hips while Harry fans his hot breath over Louis' cock. There's so much that's going on for Harry that he isn't sure what he's supposed to do. He wants to sit his ass impossibly further into Louis' mouth, but at the same time, he wants to wrap his lips around Louis' cock and suck his brains out. It's hard for Harry to even focus on one task when Louis starts pushing his tongue inside of Harry, fucking in and out and causing high pitched whines to finally belt out of him. Harry holds on to Louis' thighs where he's gripping on to him, squeezing tightly when Louis starts to nudge a finger alongside his tongue to really stretch Harry out with both things. 

"Fuck, Louis," Harry whines, back heaving in breaths. 

Harry closes his eyes and feels himself clench around Louis' finger and tongue, pressing further into the touch so he can get more. Harry knows he's on the verge of letting loose when the familiar build up of pleasure sinks deep within his belly, and his breathing start coming out more rugged and choppy. Harry does his best to hold off on his orgasm by focusing on Louis' neglected cock right in front of his face. If Harry can occupy his mouth by sucking Louis off, then that's what he'll do. It's too soon to come, and they still have a long car ride to go. Harry wants to ride out his orgasm as long as possible so to risk himself from coming too soon, Harry grabs a hold of Louis' cock and tentatively starts stroking him slowly. Louis only falters a little when he feels Harry wrapping a hand around him, but he quickly picks up the pace when he starts to feel Harry's wet mouth wrapping around the head of his cock. Louis buries his moan deep into Harry's ass when Harry sinks his mouth further and further on Louis' cock, not holding back by going all the way until his nose is nudging up against Louis' pelvis. Louis tries to remain still while he fucks Harry's ass with his tongue and while Harry sucks his cock, but the feeling of both is too overwhelming for him as well, and he begins to slowly nudge his hips up to push his cock further into Harry's mouth, feeling just the head of it beginning to hit the back of Harry's throat. 

It takes the sound of Harry choking and the dig of his fingers into Louis' thighs for Louis to finally back off, dropping his head back on the seat to give him some air to breath and stilling his hips from thrusting up. Louis pats at Harry's bum to get him to move off, and he's so fucking thankful that Harry finally removes his mouth off Louis' cock and scoots down his torso so that his ass is now on Louis' belly rather than on his face. Louis is breathing heavily where he lays on the seat, listening to the rapid way his heart is beating and the choppy way Harry is breathing as well. There is sweat coating Louis' forehead that he reaches up to wipe away, and in the midst of the silence that Louis uses to calm himself down, Harry is turning his head to glance at Louis, an evident pout set on his lips. 

"Why'd we stop?" He wonders pathetically, eyes glancing back to his own hard cock before looking at Louis' that is covered in his spit. 

Louis swallows as he blinks dazed at Harry. "I didn't want to come yet." 

And, _oh_. 

"Well," Harry says, licking his lips, blinking up at the ceiling anxiously. "When did you want to come?"

"I quite liked the idea of getting it on the plane."

Harry's face heats up instantly, and he tries hiding it by covering it up with his hands. "Louis," Harry giggles embarrassed, biting his lip when Louis' hand reaches up to caress his back. "You got me all worked up." 

"That's the point," Louis smirk. He wiggles his way on the seat so he can somewhat sit properly. With Harry mainly sitting on his lap, Louis is able to get upright to where his chest is now hugging Harry's sweaty back, and he smiles as he buries his nose into Harry's neck to get a whiff of his natural scent. Fuck, it's intoxicating how sweet Harry smells to him. "Think you can hold off until we get on the plane, love?" Louis questions lowly against Harry's ear, smirking as he presses a soft kiss to the underside of Harry's jaw. 

Harry whines. "I want you now." 

"We don't have time, baby." 

As if to prove Louis' point, they see the sign for the airport passing by their window, and Harry ends up pouting even more. 

"If it makes anything better, we have a private plane," Louis ends up saying when Harry's adorably stupid pout remains on his insanely cute face. Louis laughs when he sees the tilt of Harry's lips curve up as if this piece of information is enough to satisfy Harry's wait. "I figured that would work," Louis teases. "Now, get off and get dressed." 

The two of them continue to scramble around the back seat of the car to get their clothes on and make themselves look somewhat presentable. It's quite the challenge when the two of them are sporting hard ons, but they manage to hide it as best as they can as the driver pulls up along the airway where Louis' rented private plane is already waiting on them. Harry nearly rushes out the car when his eyes first land on the aircraft, in compete awe that they get the whole thing to themselves and have the maximum privacy that Harry has been looking forward to since he first heard about this trip. 

"Louis, I can't believe you got this for us." 

Louis smiles as he follows Harry out the car. He immediately seeks out Harry's hand and laces their fingers together as he leads them over towards the stairs to the plane. "Well, I wanted to treat you to something nice." 

Harry blushes at the sentiment and lets Louis guide them inside the plane. The driver is already loading up their bags while the flight crew is getting everything settled for take off. Louis does a mini tour of the plane per Harry's request. To the left of the entrance is where the cock pit is, and the pilot briefly sticks his head through the crack of the door to greet both his passengers. Then there is a small mini bar right as they turn to the right of the plane. There are a couple rows of leather seats that are by each other, and then towards the back of the plane, there is a small laying area set up underneath a television that is hanging up on the wall. The entire inside is gold and white, seemingly more fancy than anything Harry has ever been in. The flight attendant that is supposed to be hosting them smiles at the both of them and walks them over to the first set of seats where Harry and Louis will sit in for take off. 

"This is just amazing," Harry breathes out once he's seated, buckle across his lap and body turned to face Louis. "I've never been on a private plane before." 

Louis shrugs nonchalant, reaching to grab Harry's hand again so they can continue holding each other even when the plane takes off. "I have with the team, but, you know, this is way better." 

Harry's smile brightens, and he leans across the small gap between their seats to press a kiss to Louis' lips. 

"Alright, Mr. and Mr. Tomlinson," the flight attendant interrupts gently, a soft smile on her face as Harry hastily pulls back from Louis. "We will be taking off soon. Just remain in your seats until we're in the air."

Louis begins tattering off with the flight attendant about something Harry doesn't have the mental capacity to pay any attention to. Instead, Harry's ears are constantly ringing with the implication the flight attendant gave off of him and Louis being married. It's all Harry can think about as he begins to feel the plane starting to move, too dumbfounded to actually participate in the conversation Louis and the attendant are currently having because all he can hear on repeat is _Mr. and Mr. Tomlinson._ Harry is the other Tomlinson. The flight attendant referred to him as a Tomlinson - as if he and Louis are ... _married_. It's the first time Harry has ever been called this, and it's honestly the first time he's ever let the thought of getting married to Louis cross his mind. Harry knows he and Louis are forever, but he's never actually had the time to consider that their forever can start now. Harry can really get married to Louis, and they can really have a wedding, and he can really become Harry Tomlinson one day, and all these thoughts are getting him so giddy and excited that he nearly misses the plane taking off until he feels Louis' hand moving up his arm and squeezing his bicep. 

"H, what are you thinking about?" Louis ends up asking when Harry's dubious staring has gone on for too long. 

"Oh," Harry hums - _getting married_ \- he wants to say, but instead he softens his face to a smile and reaches for Louis' hand again. "I'm just thinking about you." 

Well, it's pretty much the truth. 

"Are you?" Louis questions smugly, eyebrow raising as Harry unbuckles his seatbelt to walk over to join Louis at his seat. 

Louis smiles as he glances up at Harry to watch his next move, heart beating rapidly in his chest when Harry spreads Louis' legs apart so he can walk in between them. Harry uses his free hand to cup the underside of Louis' jaw, and he tilts Louis' head up so he can lean forward for a quick kiss to his lips. 

"I am," Harry responds under his breath. Harry shimmies himself closer to Louis and rests his knees on to Louis' seat before he's hoisting himself up to sit in Louis' lap. Louis' arms instinctively wrap around Harry's waist once he gets settled, and he sneaks his hands underneath Harry's shirt so he can get a feel of Harry's warm skin against the palm of his hand. "I'm thinking about how much I love you," Harry says as he leans forward to trail his lips down the column of Louis' neck, biting down on his shoulder before bringing his lips above Louis', breathing heavily into his mouth, "I want you."

Louis curls his fingers into the pudge of Harry's hips and nudges his nose against Harry's. "Right now?" Louis questions softly. 

"Right now," Harry confirms.

Louis' surprised at the desperation that comes from Harry as he practically rips their clothes off their bodies. Sure Louis is horny and has been looking forward to finally having sex again with Harry, but he never thought he would see Harry more eager to do it than he is. Harry has always been full of surprises, Louis knows first hand, but to see Harry pull out a small bottle of lube from his boot has Louis completely speechless. Louis didn't think Harry would actually be up for sex on the plane, but with their clothes thrown all over the place, and Harry eagerly pushing the bottle in Louis' hand while also simultaneously rising up on his knees to free his ass, Louis should have known how much of a minx Harry truly is. 

"Fuck, Harry, you're gagging for it, aren't you?" 

Harry responds by raising an eyebrow, slicking his hand up with some of the lube before wrapping his hand around the base of Louis' cock. It really only takes a couple strokes until Louis is back to full hardness, clearly proving how much Louis is affected by Harry and his eagerness. 

"I told you I wanted you." 

Louis laughs breathlessly, tilting his head back against the seat and biting back a moan when Harry's wrist flicks faster. "That's an understatement."

Louis grips on to Harry's hips as Harry shifts his knees forward so Louis' cock can go behind his body. Louis has to close his eyes when he feels Harry grip him again, but instead of feeling the head of his cock slowly nudge Harry open, he feels it rubbing along Harry's rim, teasing the entrance to Harry's ass without actually going in. Louis doesn't know who's suffering more because all he wants to do is thrust his hips up so he can finally be inside Harry, but at the same time, he loves the idea of Harry getting himself worked up before actually taking a seat on his cock. And, _fuck_ , Harry is a sight. His skin is glimmering in the sunlight that is filtering through the windows, and he's glistening from the thin sheer of sweat that is coating his body. His chest is puffing in heavy breaths, and his lips are pink and puffy from where he's been biting down on it. Louis has to control his urges when he sees Harry close his eyes as he finally sinks himself slowly on to Louis' cock. Harry's soft face twist into a moan when the first press of Louis' cock nudges him open, and Harry's mouth parts in a breathy gasp when he starts to lower himself back. 

Once Harry is back to sitting in Louis' lap with Louis' cock nuzzled deep inside of him, he sighs in relief before leaning forward and tucking his face into Louis' neck, hands digging into Louis' shoulder and heavy breaths fanning against Louis' ear. Louis hums and runs his hands up and down Harry's back. "You okay?" he questions softly, resting his hands right at the dip of Harry's spine. 

"Yeah," Harry breathes out, laughing breathlessly as he pulls his face away. Harry smiles once he gets a look into Louis' bright, blue eyes. "It's been awhile, you know?" Harry wiggles his hips for good measure, biting his lip when Louis winces. "Kind of forgot how thick you are." 

Louis raises his eyebrows, playfully smacking Harry's ass. "Oi," he scolds. 

Harry giggles and quickly leans in to press his lips against Louis', using this as his distraction so he can start to rise up on his knees. Louis grunts when he starts to feel Harry move, Harry's ass clenching around his cock every time he rocks back down into Louis' lap. Harry digs his fingers into Louis' shoulders the quicker his pace becomes. He tries to hide every gasp or drown every moan with a kiss, but every time Harry presses his lips against Louis, Louis ends up drawing out another sound from the boy by pushing his tongue into Harry's mouth. Louis continues to kiss Harry as he uses the grip he has on Harry's hips to help guide him to a steady rhythm, but with the pleasure rapidly increasing in the pit of his stomach, he ends up needing some sort of relief to loosen up the tension he's feeling. Louis starts by thrusting his hips up when Harry starts to sink back down on Louis' cock, having Louis nudge up against a sweet spot that has Harry yanking his face away so he can let out a breathy moan to the ceiling of the plane. 

"Fuck, Louis," Harry whines, eyes fluttering close and head tilting back. "Keep doing that," he begs. 

Harry doesn't know if it's the thrill of having sex on a plane or potentially getting caught by the flight attendant, he doesn't know if it's because he's riding his boyfriend on a seat with no condom on or if it's because they finally get to have sex again, but whatever it is, Harry feels like he's about to explode. The two of them have never done it bare before, and this is the first time where Harry really gets to know what it feels like to have Louis properly inside of him. There's no rubber or anything in between. It's just Louis' beautiful cock that Harry cannot get enough of. He can feel it pressing against the walls to which Harry is clenching around. He can feel the head of Louis' cock nudging deeper inside of him and tickling against his sweet spot that nearly makes him see stars. It's so raw and dirty, and at just the thought of Louis coming inside his ass without anything to catch it just sends Harry right over the edge for his own orgasm. Harry's never had anyone come inside of him before, besides down his throat, so when he feels the warm liquid dripping from the tip of Louis' cock and filling him up whole, _gosh,_ it feels amazing. Harry can feel all of it inside of him starting to drip out his ass and down Louis' cock. Louis grabs on to Harry's waist and helps him rise up on his knees a little so he can grab a hold of his cock and gently pull it out of Harry. He continues to pump himself until all of Harry's back and ass is covered in his come, and once there is nothing left to give, Harry plops back on Louis' lap and collapse against his chest with a big huff, not minding the fact that his and Louis' bodies are already sticking together with a mixture of sweat and come. 

"Holy fuck," Louis eventually breathes out, completely breathless and head spinning. "That was ... life changing." 

Harry giggles underneath his breath and cuddles closer against Louis, feeling his stomach flutter when Louis' arms wrap around his back. "I forgot how good sex can be," Harry admits with a smile. 

"Oh, our sex is the best." 

Harry rolls his eyes and retracts his head a little, smiling at the dopey look on Louis' face before leaning in to kiss his lips. "Except, I'm messy." 

"It's just spunk, love, it'll wash away." 

"Well, we didn't use a condom this time," Harry notes bashfully, cheeks turning slightly more pink than they already were. "So it's really all over me."

Louis bites his lip and moves his hands down to the top of Harry's ass, squeezing teasingly. "Sex was better without it though, yeah?"

"Honestly, so much better," Harry agrees with a breathless giggle. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **LouisTomlinson:** Taste like strawberries (; 

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 **NiallHoran commented:** I don't even want to know why Harry's mouth looks swollen ..... 

**HarryStyles replied:** It was the strawberries (;

//

There is a soft, salty breeze blowing through the room with the faint sound of seagulls chirping in the air and the waves crashing against the shore. The sun is barely rising up, just making a warm appearance through the crack of the sliding glass door. The blinds are slightly pulled back, with the view of the beach just barely visible from where Harry is laying on the bed. Harry smiles as he listens to the symphonies of the Caribbean, feeling so happy and warm that he and Louis can get away from reality for just a bit so they can enjoy their time together without any interruptions. Harry's head is laying atop of Louis' bare chest, ear pressed against his heart so he can listen to every beat that passes by the second. Louis is still sleeping, eyelids fluttered closed and lips slightly parted where he lets out faint puffs of breaths like he does every morning when Harry watches. 

Harry could lay like this for hours, tracing gentle patterns with the tip of his finger across Louis' pec and watching the morning sun rise beyond the horizon of the ocean. It's hard for him to ever want to leave a place like this when all they have been doing is relaxing, swimming, sun bathing, shopping, having sex, and drinking amazing tropical drinks. It's paradise, and it's even more perfect that Harry gets to spend every moment with Louis by his side. 

After minutes of Harry drawing patterns on Louis' skin and staring out the crack of the door, he starts to feel Louis stir awake. Louis' body begins to stretch out before he groans. "Harry?" Louis mutters lowly, voice still rumpled with sleep. Louis hums as his arms wrap tighter around Harry's waist where he feels the weight of his body pressing against his own.

"Morning, Lou," Harry greets with a smile, turning on his belly so he can look at Louis' sleepy face. Harry preens when he sees blue eyes staring back at him, so soft and bright that Harry just has to quickly boop him on the nose. 

Louis scrunches his face. "How long have you been awake?" 

"About an hour."

"You want to get some food, then?" 

Harry snorts as he leans forward to rest his head on Louis' shoulder. " _Do you_ want to get food?" Harry teases. "Are you even awake to do so?"

"I'll have you know, I'm awake and _very_ hungry this morning, thanks to you," Louis retaliates, right hand moving down the curve of Harry's back until he's grabbing his ass. Harry's eyes widen at the gesture.

Well, they did have sex right before bed last night so it makes sense Louis would wake up hungry. 

"Oh, thanks to me?" Harry teases, eyebrows raised in a testing manner as he shifts around on the mattress until he is rolling on top of Louis, sitting down right on his waist and leaning down to press his hands against Louis' chest. "You're the one who threw me on the bed and ripped my clothes off." 

Louis scoffs, hands back on Harry's ass again, squeezing. "You're the one who can't get enough of this no condom thing. My dirty-dirty boy."

Harry rolls his eyes at the comment and opts not to say anything further. Louis does have a point, but Harry isn't in the mood to say so himself so instead, he gets off the bed and heads into the bathroom, hearing Louis' lingering laugh following behind him. Harry ignores it and starts the shower up, knowing the aftermath of their sex the night prior is still all over their bodies, and now that he's fully awake and aware of everything, he feels absolutely disgusting and crusty. He doesn't know why he didn't shower after Louis came inside of him. The best they did was wipe everything and fall asleep, which normally works when there's a condom involved, but ever since the discovery of how good sex feels without it, they're still not used to the extra amount of come they have to deal with. Or, more like, Harry is not used to being filled up with come, and sometimes the feeling of Louis spilling inside of him just feels so good and makes him feel so sleepy that all he wants to do when their finished is pass out. 

Well, now, he's got to scrub extra hard in the shower this morning, and if Louis is still laughing at him as he does so, then Harry just ignores him again. 

After the two of them shower and get dressed, they leave their bungalow hand and hand to walk around the resort. They find a small cafe that's by the beach where they have outdoor patio seating. The two of them find a table out there and enjoy their morning breakfast with the sound of the waves and the seagulls surrounding them. It's so peaceful to have the warm sun out in the sky and all the palm trees landscaping the beach. It's such a picture perfect view, and it makes Harry's breakfast taste that much better because he always had somewhere to look at with every bite of food he takes. 

"Hey, babe," Louis says in the midst of Harry staring, drawing Harry's attention towards him rather than what's going on out at the beach. "You want to go shop for those matching swim trunks today? You said you wanted to get a few before we leave." 

Harry's face breaks out into the cheekiest grin. "There's some cute turtle ones in the shop by the lobby."

Louis shakes his head, so fond, and pays the bill before he and Harry are leaving the cafe to go explore the shopping area. They walk hand in hand down the strip eyeballing the clothes displayed in the store windows. They pass by a couple shops until they are stopping in front of the one that has the turtle swim shorts Harry was talking about. However, just as they are about to walk into the store, there is another store that catches Harry's eyes. Harry stops walking and stares at the jewelry shop that is right next to the one they are at. He sees a bunch of rings displayed by the front window that represent engagement rings, and Harry suddenly feels his heart beating rapidly in his chest at the thought of one day wearing one himself. Harry doesn't even bother to follow Louis into the clothing shop, instead, he follows his line of sight and walks into the store with all the rings, eyes dazedly searching around all the different rings that catch his eye. 

Harry nearly feels breathless as he sees all the silver and gold rings they have in the display cases. His mind begins running with so many images of Louis getting down on one knee and asking him to spend forever together. Harry really hasn't given much thought about his future wedding plans until he first got on the plane with Louis. It was like a different reality had settled within him when the flight attendant referred to them as a married couple, and ever since then, it's all Harry has been thinking about. Harry can see himself marrying Louis. He can see them having a grand wedding and having the perfect first dance. Harry can see Louis proposing to him with the biggest, most obnoxious ring he can find, but, the only problem Harry seems to toy with is if this is something Louis wants as well. It's not anything they ever discussed, and they just got back together after being broken up. Harry doesn't know if he's getting way ahead of himself already, but Harry does like the thought of being a Tomlinson. It also doesn't help everyone at the resort refers him as _Mr. Harry Tomlinson._ It just makes his married cravings even more intense. 

"Hello, sir, do you need any help?" A worker suddenly asks Harry, snapping him out of his daze. Harry smiles and tilts his head at where the worker is standing on the other side of the display case. "Are you looking to ask a special someone?"

Harry's cheeks instantly heat up in a blush. "Actually, _uh,_ I'm the one wanting to be asked."

"I see," the worker responds with a comforting smile. "You're just snooping and hoping the boyfriend gets an idea?"

Harry laughs, nodding. "I suppose so. It's not something we've really talked about yet, but maybe he'll get the hint now."

"How long you two been together?" 

"A little over three years, but I've known him for almost four."

"Oh, it's definitely ring time then," the worker says with a smirk, eyes suddenly drifting past Harry to look out the front of the store. The worker hums and glances back at Harry. "I think your boyfriend is out front. Do you want to try a ring on to make it really obvious you're ready?"

Harry's eyes suddenly widen. "He's behind me?" he quickly worries. 

"He's outside the shop, but he's looking for you," the worker briefly informs, already opening the display case and pulling out a diamond Onyx ring. He practically shoves the thing at Harry. "Here, put it on. He's walking your way."

Harry bites his lip as he places the diamond ring on his left finger. He lets out a breathless gasp when he finally gets the chance to see how an engagement ring looks on his hand, and he's absolutely in love with the weight of it on his finger. Gosh, Harry's heart is beating so quickly, and his stomach is fluttering with so many butterflies, and all he can think about is one day wearing a ring that Louis gives him to symbolize their forever commitment to one another. The thought just brightens Harry's day, and Louis is about to walk up and see how good Harry's hand looks with an engagement ring on it. 

"Haz, I've been looking for you, baby" Louis says once he's right up next to Harry's side. Louis briefly looks at the worker and smiles before he's glancing strictly at Harry's face, void of any emotion that gives away if he's noticed the ring or not. "I got the shorts for us, you ready to go to the beach now?"

Harry furrows his eyebrows and quickly looks at his ring, that is practically shimmering under the light, before he's looking at Louis again, noticing that Louis has not once taken notice of the ring that Harry has displayed on his finger. Harry doesn't know how much more obvious he can be with his arm stretched out in front of him with his fingers splayed apart to show off the pretty diamond. Harry sighs and tries to hide his frustration. 

"Yeah, just give me a minute, honey, I'll be out in a sec." 

Louis nods his head and gives Harry a small peck to the side of his mouth before he's walking out the store. Once he's gone, the worker begins shaking his head in disbelief. "That was a bust," the worker sighs. "He's oblivious."

"Normally he's so attentive towards me," Harry mumbles under his breath, regretfully removing the ring off his finger so he can give it back to the worker. "Thanks for the help. I guess I'll have to try harder."

And, oh baby, Harry sure will try harder. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **HarryStyles:** Views. x

//

Harry and Louis still cannot get enough of each other. They've been back together now for a good bit, but it's like their bodies crave one another in a way they've never craved before. They've been back from the Caribbean for _one day,_ and they're already naked on top of their bed. Harry's on his hands and knees, on full display for Louis, and Louis is back to pressing his cock inside of Harry's ass. The force of being split open by Louis has Harry falling forward on his forearms, body bent down against the mattress with his hips up in the air where Louis is gripping on to them like a vice. They should honestly be sexed out and exhausted from how much they loved each other while on vacation, but it seems like the heat is still there, and since they have nothing else to do on this Sunday, rough, morning sex seems to be the best answer. 

Except, it doesn't go very well when they hear chatter going on in the living room, and then their bedroom door suddenly being ripped open and Harry's loud moans echoing now across the entire flat.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh," a voice interrupts

It's Niall. 

"My bloody eyes," he cries. Niall slams the door shut and runs back into the living room where Liam and Zayn had already taken their spots on the couch. At Niall's loud commotion, the two of them look over at him, noticing the bright, red flush coating his cheeks.

Zayn snorts. "What's wrong with you, mate?" 

Niall opens his mouth to speak, but he ends up gasping for words and comes up short of anything coherent enough to explain to the two boys with what he just saw. Niall stands there still in shock, and the attention eventually gets diverted off of him when he hears the bedroom door opening again. When he turns his head to look, he sees Harry and Louis walking out with sated looks on their faces. Louis is shirtless with a pair of joggers on. He has an evident love bite on his shoulder and chest, hair completely rumpled from where Harry's fingers had done its damage. He has a smirk on his face as he guides him and Harry over to the arm chair where he pulls the boy down on his lap. Harry, on the other had, has his eyes blown and cheeks flushed. His lips are swollen and plump, his curls and unruly mess on top of his head. He's wearing a shirt and small boxer shorts, but with his legs on full display, the love bites on the inside of his thighs are very noticeable. 

Niall shivers, diverting his eyes away from the two. "I'm glad you two were able to finish."

It takes a whole ten seconds before there is a loud boom of laughter coming from both Liam and Zayn. 

"You caught them fucking," Zayn laughs loudly, falling over on his side and nearly crying at how amusing he finds everything. 

"Holy shit," Liam gasps, giggling. "No wonder the place seemed so quiet at first."

Niall whines and shakes his head. "This is not funny," he complains. "I don't like seeing my innocent best friend looking the way that he did." 

"He's not so innocent," Zayn snorts. 

Louis pouts and wraps his arms tightly around Harry's waist. "I like the way he looks when we're - "

"Don't finish that," Niall interrupts. 

"Of course you'll like it, Louis," Zayn says with a roll of his eyes. "It's Harry's sex look." 

Harry blushes and ducks his head into Louis' neck, giggling as Louis begins rubbing his back. "Zayn, you don't have room to speak," Louis warns. "I know you get off on Gigi's sex look, too."

Zayn groans. "Leave us alone," he whines.

"I just cannot believe I saw my best friend getting fucked," Niall continues, mindlessly walking over to the couch and sitting on the edge of it, running his fingers through his hair as if he was contemplating his whole life. 

"Look it's done," Harry cuts in, lifting his head from Louis' shoulder. "Everyone knows we have sex. I'm not a child Niall. _I am_ twenty."

Niall shakes his head. "I'm just saying, we reached a whole new level of friendship now." Niall huffs then glances at Louis, now finally cracking the first smile since his presence became known. "By the way, nice work, Louis. You got good hip action." 

Liam and Zayn quickly share a look with one another while Louis preens at the compliment. 

"Thanks, mate," Louis smiles, soon frowning when Harry slaps his chest. "Ow, why'd you do that?"

Harry rolls his eyes and looks back at the three boys on the couch. "So, do you lot mind telling us why you're here in the first place?" 

"We wanted to visit you guys," Liam admits with a weak smile. 

"Yeah, we haven't seen much of you two since everything happened so we wanted to drop by and check on everything," Zayn adds in. "I briefly saw you two before you guys went on vacation, but we wanted to see how you guys are doing."

Harry hums. "Well, we're doing great." 

"Clearly," Zayn snorts. 

"We probably should have called," Liam notes with a frown. "I thought this surprise visit would go a lot better." 

"So, how do you two have sex?" Niall asks randomly, apparently still not over seeing the two of them having sex. 

Harry raises his eyebrow, head jerking in Niall's direction. "What?"

"Sex" Niall repeats, "How does it work with two boys?"

Harry shakes his head, eyeballing Niall suspiciously. "Are you wanting to have sex with a boy?"

Niall's face flushes as the other boys begin laughing. 

"No, hell, no," Niall corrects quickly, almost nervously. "I like females. I love Ellie. Sex with Ellie is great - " Harry grimaces - "But, I'm curious, you know?"

"Niall," Harry sighs, slightly annoyed and irritated. He didn't get his after sex cuddles, and he doesn't like having to share his time with Louis. Honestly, he wants everyone to leave, but if he has to be civil with their friends, then he's not going to be happy about it. "It's the same concept. A cock enters my body but in a different hole. Sometimes, chicks like a cock going in their other hole as well. It's not that hard."

"Oh my gosh," Louis snorts out, tilting his head back to let out a loud laugh, Liam and Zayn following as well. Harry frowns and looks at Louis questionably. "You talk some shit sometimes, you know that?" He teases, coming up to cover Harry's mouth with his hand. 

Harry furrows his brows together and nibbles on the inside of Louis' palm. Louis giggles and removes his hand, resting it on top of Harry's head instead and playing with his curls. 

"Well, I noticed there was no condom on Louis," Niall then points out, in an accusing manner.

Zayn laughs some more. "How much did you exactly see of the two?"

"Enough," Niall grimaces. 

"We collectively agree, sex feels better without one," Louis reasons with.

Harry face palms, shaking his head. Fuck, this is not how Harry expected his day to go at all. 

//

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 **HarryStyles:** Love me good. 

**NiallHoran commented:** DELETE THIS HARRY

**LouisTomlinson commented:** hmmm you are good (; 

**GemmaStyles replied:** gag. 


	34. Chapter 34

"So, Harry," Dr. Barnes begins, reclining back in his chair where he's casually glancing from his notepad over to Harry. "How have things been going?" 

Harry smiles at the question, instantly remembering how good his days have been since flying off to the Caribbean with Louis. It's almost as if all his past problems have completely gone away, and he's finally in a stable enough place where he can say he's happy with how is life is turning out. 

"It's been great," Harry admits truthfully. "Louis has been by my side since we got back together. You know, he does his best to be supportive. He tries talking to me about things that are bothering me, and he really helps me cope with Claire. It's been a few months since she passed, but he helps make the days go by easier."

"That's nice to hear, Harry. I'm glad you and Louis have worked things out. How has photography going?" 

"Well," Harry sighs, blowing a puff of air past his lips. "I haven't really gotten any offers. I would like to start my own event photography business whenever I get the chance, but I've mainly been working with Chelsea's media team. I've worked there since I was sixteen, and I get to see Louis a lot so there's nothing wrong with it. I just - I kind of want to branch out a little more." 

Barnes hums. "You want to take wedding photos, graduation photos, family photos, engagement photos - "

"Yes," Harry interrupts instantly, eyes growing at the sound of engagement popping up.

Engagement anything is honestly all Harry can think and focus on these days. It's like all the signs are around him, and he doesn't know how much more obvious he can be towards Louis in hinting that he wants a ring on his finger. Just the other day when Harry and Louis were watching television, they came across three movies right at the scene where someone was getting proposed to. Obviously, Harry made them watch every scene, and just when Harry thought all the signs were gone, they stumbled upon a ring advertisement commercial. It really has been haunting Harry _for weeks_ now. 

"That's exactly what I want to do," Harry continues in a more relaxed tone. 

"I think you have what it takes Harry. You've really built up your confidence over these months we've been together, and you have increased your skill as a photographer. I think you're in a good place to maybe take that next step in your career." 

Harry blushes at the compliment and diverts his eyes towards the ground. "Louis says the same thing to me all the time." 

"Good," Barnes agrees with a smile. "He's being supportive - just what you deserve."

The rest of the session with Barnes ends up going smoothly. Harry gets back to talking about Claire and all the fun they used to have. Harry still tries to visit her grave as much as he can, and he loves bringing Louis alongside him for moral support. Since coming back from the vacation, Harry and Louis have been inseparable, and Harry doesn't think he's ever been this happy before in his life. Everything seems to just be fitting in place for the both of them, and Harry loves that he feels comfortable in his own skin now and has the confidence to not worry about what other people think about the styles he choses to wear. Harry is excited for what's to come in the future now that he has built this road for himself. He knows he and Louis are forever, and with all these signs pointing to a potential engagement in the future, it's all Harry can think about. Harry can't wait for the day that Louis puts a ring on his finger and claims him for eternity. It's been a lingering thought since the Caribbean, and Harry has this gut feeling that it's going to happen sooner rather than later, especially considering Harry likes to make it very obvious that proposals are currently his favorite thing to witness. 

By the end of the session, Harry feels a sudden wave of exhaustion. He has trouble keeping his eyes open to finish out the rest of the conversation, and when Barnes brings out a cup of coffee to drink, Harry begins to feel slightly nauseous. He doesn't know if it's because he's lacking sleep himself. He remembers the night before he had trouble falling asleep do to heaving cramping in his lower abdomen. Harry thought it was gas pain from what he ate for dinner, and thankfully, it did pass by the morning, however, he didn't get as much sleep as he liked. Now, his body is hating him for it. So once Harry is finished with his session with Barnes, he drives home carefully and doesn't bother to seek out Louis in the flat because he walks straight to their bedroom and collapses right on the bed, passing out almost the instant his body lands on the mattress. 

Hm ... _weird_. 

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** Sleepy Bub . 

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**HarryStyles commented:** Stop it ): I wasn't feeling good

**NiallHoran commented:** Not with the sleeping pictures again MY GOSH.

//

Harry has to say mornings are his absolute favorite - it's what sets the tone for the rest of his day, and Harry can honestly say he wakes up with a smile nearly all the time. First off, he's cuddled to Louis, and even though Harry knows in the deep of their sleep they are most likely apart and turned away from each other, he likes how they never fail to wake up in one another's arms. It's like their bodies have a natural draw to each other, and no matter the times they seem to separate, they always find their ways back to one another. Mornings are even better because Harry always wakes up first, which means, he gets to spend the better half of his awakening hours watching Louis sleep. He loves the way Louis' face looks whenever he is resting and dreaming. Everything is just so soft about Louis in the mornings, and Harry absolutely adores it. He loves watching Louis wake up, too. There's always a scrunch of Louis' nose that happens before a groan and then a stretch coming about. It's the same nearly every morning, and Harry looks forward to seeing the first flutter of Louis' eyelashes before beautiful, blue eyes are opening up to look at him. 

This time though, they did have a late night so Harry knows Louis will be another hour or so before he actually wakes. Which, Harry is not complaining. He can spend his entire day just watching Louis sleep if it meant he got to count all the freckles on his cheek. Normally, Harry is the buggar who doesn't want to get out of bed even though he's the first one to wake up. It's Louis who has to drag Harry out into the real world because if it were up to Harry, he would spend his days in bed with Louis rather than doing anything else. It's quite ironic, but hey, Harry loves what he loves, and he absolutely loves anything that has to do with Louis Tomlinson. So of course, this morning is no different. 

Harry props his elbow on the mattress and rest his head in the palm of his hand. He looks down at Louis with a smile while his finger traces light patterns across Louis' chest. Harry first starts by tracing Louis' pec muscles, then he trails his fingers over to the left side of his chest and begins tracing where he knows Louis' heart is resting. The morning sun is casting a dark shadow past the curtains that are pulled on the windows, and there's a small crack off to the side where a sun ray is able to sneak past and hit right on Louis' arm. Harry is just about to move his hand over there to touch where the light is warming Louis' skin when there is a sudden wave of nausea that hits him out of nowhere. For a moment, Harry pauses, taking in a deep breath and hoping that settles the churning in his belly, but when Harry moves his body just a little bit to get closer to Louis, it's like the world starts to spin. Harry begins seeing spots in his vision and feels a rush of hot and cool washing over his body. There's a tickle in his throat that makes his nose scrunch and the rise of something in his chest that makes him bolt from the bed to head straight towards the toilet. Harry ends up throwing up the dinner he ate last night, completely emptying all the contents in his belly before he lets out another big breath and rests the side of his head on the rim of the toilet lid, letting the cool plaster chill his fiery hot skin. 

Harry does his best to control his breathing even though the world feels like it's flipped upside down. His breath is sour and wreaks of vomit, and he doesn't have enough energy to actually flush the toilet so the smell of his throw up is fresh and strong from where he is resting his head. It takes a couple of minutes before another wave of nausea hits, and Harry is back to throwing up anything else he has left his stomach. Louis takes all of a few seconds until he's scrambling into the room and crowding up against Harry's body, making sure to pull Harry's hair out of his face and trying his best to coax Harry to relax from the press of his hand to Harry's back. Harry groans at the feel and goes back to laying his head on the toilet. 

"What's the matter, babe? Are you ill?"

Harry pouts and blinks up at Louis. "I don't know," he whispers weakly, lazily reaching his hand up to finally flush the toilet. "I woke up and then felt sick."

"You do look a bit pale," Louis notes more to himself. He brings his hand up and presses the back of it against Harry's forehead, slightly frowning. "I mean your warm, but you're not burning up. What did you eat last night?"

"I made us tacos."

Louis lifts an eyebrow. "I don't think it's that, love. I ate them as well, and I feel fine." 

"Well," Harry laughs bitterly, slowly lifting his head off the toilet to slouch against the wall. "I feel fine now." As if to prove his point, Harry tries standing up, legs wobbly and head spinning. 

"Hold up there, babe," Louis eases right away, standing with Harry as well and getting his arm around Harry's body so there's no case of him falling over. Harry smiles weakly at him while Louis walks them over to the sink. "You should probably take it slow for now, okay?"

Harry sighs, reaching for his toothbrush. "Does that mean you'll brush my teeth?"

Louis rolls his eyes and grabs his own toothbrush. 

After the two of them get their teeth cleaned, Louis guides Harry back to the bed, lifting the covers for him and tucking him underneath. Harry smiles as he lays on his side, resting his hands underneath his head as he blinks up at Louis. "Thank you, honey," he whispers, suddenly yawning as if the eight hours of sleep was not enough for him to feel rested. "I do feel better now." 

"Maybe rest up for another hour or so just to be sure," Louis advises gently. He sits on the edge of the bed where there is room next to Harry's body, placing his hand on Harry's hip and rubbing Harry's skin where his shirt has ridden up. "You know the lads are coming over later, and who knows what they have planned for the day." 

"Right," Harry snorts. He forgot the boys wanted to hang out today since they have felt like they haven't seen Harry or Louis as much as they like. Which, to be fair, Harry and Louis have been cooped up together since coming back from the Caribbean so he understands where they're coming from, but Harry truly has enjoyed all his private time with Louis so he can't really complain about it. 

"I'll cook you some soup or something after you are all rested up." 

Harry smiles, snuggling against the mattress. "Sounds like a plan." He then tilts his head up, puckering for a kiss to which Louis easily obliges to. "Love you."

"Love you, too, baby," Louis responds as he pinches Harry's cheeks. 

Louis leaves shortly after to let Harry rest for a little bit. He goes out into the kitchen to get himself some food and a cup of tea before he's walking back in the room to check on Harry. He sees the boy already passed out within the ten minutes he was gone, and Louis shakes his head fondly as he steps back out and closes the door behind him. It's still relatively early in the morning, and the boys aren't coming for another couple of hours so Louis figures he can let Harry nap away his queasiness before waking him up with some soup and tea. After some good time has passed, Louis warms up the soup and prepares a small tray to bring into the room from Harry. He walks into the room and sets everything on the night stand next to where Harry is sleeping and sits down on the edge of the bed again. He brushes some hair off of Harry's face before leaning down to press his lips against Harry's forehead, noticing that the clamminess he felt earlier was no longer there. Louis hums thoughtfully as Harry stirs awake. 

"Food?" Harry grumbles under his breath, smiling softly at the way Louis reaches to grab the tray off the night stand. 

"It's made with love," he teases, joining the empty stop next to Harry and cuddling him while he slowly sips his soup and tea.

//

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 **HarryStyles:** Love my mornings with him x

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//

The lads come over hours later after Harry and Louis have properly woken up and Harry is feeling much better. They spend some time lounging around the flat and drinking a couple of beers. Zayn and Niall start discussing what they should do for the night and end up coming up with the brilliant idea of going to a strip club. Harry isn't too keen on the idea at first, but with lots of convincing and a promise of a foot rub from Louis later, Harry reluctantly agrees to tag along. Besides, Harry thinks it will be funny to see Niall or Liam get a lap dance. He knows Niall will absolutely love it, and he knows Liam will get all flushed cheeks. There's even a part of Harry that wants to see Louis get a lap dance because Harry knows for sure Louis will be the least interested out of them all, and Harry wants to be the one to witness all the dancers going crazy that _his_ boyfriend, Louis Tomlinson, is at their strip club. 

"Let's get a table up front," Niall eagerly says once they are inside, already seeking one out in the crowd of people. 

Harry rolls his eyes, but he grabs Louis' hand and follows them all to a table that's right next to the stage. "Do we have to be this close?" Harry complains. 

"Oh, come on, Harry," Zayn responds, smirking. "Live a little. Get a lap dance. Have a drink." 

Louis furrows his eyebrows. "No drink for him." 

"Louis, I told you I feel fine," Harry complains. 

The five of them sit at the table right as the first performance of dancers make their way out onto the stage. Liam flags down the waitress while everyone decides on what they want to drink. The lights inside the place dim, and all the people sitting around stand up at the first spotlight that hits the stage. Three women end up walking past the curtains and make their way to the front, displaying their frail bodies in the tiny lingerie that barely covers enough skin. They each go to a pole and begin dancing while more girls make their way on stage. These girls walk down the ramp to get on the floor where all the people are sitting and start dragging some of the audience up on the stage to be a part of this performance. Once Niall and Zayn catch on that the dancers are bringing people up for a stage lap dance, they end up cheering obnoxiously to get Liam dragged up there as well. It ends up working, and Liam's entire face flushes red when a blonde dance grabs him by the collar to guide him on stage before pushing him down in a chair. 

"You should get one," Harry giggles in Louis' ear, pressing his hand on Louis' shoulder and remaining as close as possible. "A lap dance," he clarifies. 

Louis tilts his head and glances at Harry, smirking. "Now, why would I want that?"

Harry shrugs his shoulders and hums thoughtfully, eyes drifting from the stage to see a couple dancers walking around the floor looking for their next victim to dance on. Harry bites his lip and stands to his feet, waving his hand in the air to get the attention of the brunette with curly hair. "Hey, Louis Tomlinson wants a lap dance."

The girl easily peaks interest at the sound of Louis' name, and she quickly walks over to the table to where Louis' chair is already pulled out. Harry winks at Louis and steps off to the side so he can give the girl room to do whatever she has planned. Zayn and Niall had moved up to the stage to encourage the girls dancing on Liam so it's only Harry and Louis at the table. The dancer walks up to Louis, swaying her hips and taking each step in stride, showing off her long, tan legs before she's using her knees to spread Louis' thighs apart. Louis raises his eyebrows at the act and quickly glances at Harry, rolling his eyes when he sees Harry snickering behind his hand. The dancer then moves to straddle Louis' lap, nearly pushing her boobs in his face before she starts moving her body to the beat of the song that is playing through the speakers. Louis keeps his eyes locked on Harry's the whole time, completely endeared with how amused Harry is in him getting a lap dance. It gets even worse when the dancer has to force Louis' hands on her body. That's when Harry lets out a horse laugh he cannot contain because he knows, Louis knows, and everyone knows that the only dance Louis will enjoy is one from Harry, and Harry is confident enough to actually believe this. 

Harry sighs and finally gives pity, walking back to the dancer and tapping her on the shoulder. "I think he's good," he tells her. 

The dancer frowns and slowly gets off Louis' lap, placing her hands on her hips. "I barely got started."

"He needs a _different_ dancer."

The dancer sighs and finally gets the hint that her services are no longer needed. She leaves the two of them alone, and Harry takes a step closer so he's just inches away from Louis' body. Louis angles his head up and raises his eyebrow, teasing Harry with a look. "So, a different dancer, eh?"

"That's right," Harry hums under his breath. He takes a step closer and circles Louis' chair, trailing his finger around Louis' body until he's standing in front of him again. "So, Louis Tomlinson ... is that right?"

"That's me," Louis responds, smirking, reaching out to grab a hold of Harry's wrist, stopping him from walking any more. "Does it sound familiar?"

Harry hums thoughtfully, lifting his shoulder as he retracts his hand from Louis' hold. "I think I've heard the name here or there. He's kind of an ass, isn't he?"

"I think you should be the judge of that." 

Harry rolls his eyes and finally gets properly into Louis' place, fitting himself in between Louis' legs before he slowly makes a show of getting on his lap. He places his hands on top of Louis' shoulders and steadies himself, feeling Louis' hands instantly going to his ass. 

"Oh," Harry squeals, eyes widening at the forwardness. "Moving fast, aren't we?"

Louis slaps Harry's ass playfully. "I've got no control, baby."

Harry teases Louis by wiggling his ass on top of Louis' lap, feeling Louis instantly tensing up and his hands tightening from where they are gripping him. Harry giggles and wiggles again, this time, reaching behind his body to grab Louis' wrist to remove his touch. "One rule," Harry says, winking, pressing Louis' arms against his sides. "No touching."

Louis swallows and grips the legs of his chair where his hands are hanging by, nodding his head obediently to Harry's demand. Now that Harry knows Louis is at his full command, he begins to move his body to the beat of the music. He's honestly never done this before, nor has he ever been so risqué to where he's been confident enough to give Louis a lap dance, but hey, they're out partying, there's good music playing, and Louis already looks like he's ready to devour Harry right this second so Harry knows Louis is liking what he's doing. Harry rolls his hips back and forth to a steady rhythm and feels Louis tensing up underneath where he's sat. His hands reach out to run through Louis' fringe, and he leans forward to run his tongue along the column of Louis' neck. Louis shivers at the touch and grips on to the chair even tighter, trying against every restraint to follow Harry's order in not touching, but with Harry's lips and tongue, and his hips and ass, it's making it real hard for Louis to find a reason to not touch his boy. 

Harry rocks his hips side to side before he slowly stands to his feet. Louis' eyes follow the movement until Harry is standing over him with a devilish looking smirk on his face. Harry blinks his innocent green eyes before he's turning around so his whole back is on display, his ass right in Louis' line of view, just what he wants. He presses his hands on top of Louis' knees and pushes them apart as he hinges at the waist, bending over so that Louis can get an even better view of his ass. Louis groans as Harry teasingly shakes his hips before he turns around to sit on Louis' lap again, blinking doe eyed as if he wasn't just putting on a show for Louis. 

"You're killing me, H," Louis complains, cheeks flushing red. 

Harry bites his lip and shrugs, hand cupping the back side of Louis' neck. Harry uses his hold on Louis and yanks him forward, bringing his face close enough to where Harry can trail his lips from Louis' jaw line to his ear, nibbling playfully there before he begins kissing down Louis' neck. Louis groans again and finally ignores Harry's rule by quickly removing his hands from the chair and immediately seeking out Harry's body. 

"I thought I said no touching?" Harry giggles into Louis' ear, biting down on his skin when Louis grips his ass tightly. 

Louis rolls his eyes and kisses Harry's lips. "I thought I told you I have no control around you."

Harry lifts his eyebrow and leans in for another kiss, eagerly sucking Louis' tongue into his mouth and making the kiss a lot more heated and intense than they probably should. They don't even realize the show up on stage has finished and there's a small break until the next performance. Liam, Niall and Zayn are all back at the table, and when they see the compromising positions that Harry and Louis are in, they all groan in annoyance. 

"Please, I can't handle any more sex between you two," Niall is the first to complain, wadding up a napkin to throw at Harry's head. 

Harry pouts when he gets hit and glares at Niall. "Leave us alone." 

"I'm afraid to," Niall grumbles. 

"You know, this whole night was planned so we could _all_ hang out," Zayn reminds, eyebrows slightly raised. "This isn't just another excuse for the two of you to get it on." 

Liam nods his head. "Yeah, you guys already get enough of that." 

Harry and Louis share a look with one another. 

"Too much of it," Niall adds under his breath. 

Harry groans and finally gets off Louis' lap. "Fine, fine. We'll stop," he reasons with, pulling the empty chair next to Louis so they can sit by one another.

"Let's order another round of drinks," Zayn suggests, already flagging down the nearest waitress. 

As all the boys begin ordering their next set of drinks, Louis leans in close to Harry and places his hand on Harry's thigh. "Hey," he whispers, lips brushing against Harry's ear. "I have a situation now because of you." Louis emphasizes his point by grabbing Harry's hand and placing it on his crotch. 

"Oh," Harry squeals, lips curving into a smirk. "I can help with that," he responds. 

Harry leans in to press another kiss to Louis' lips, but there is a brief moment when an unsettling smell makes it way to Harry's nose. He can't tell if it's the alcohol that just got put on the table or the food a waitress just walked by with, but whatever the stench Harry smells is making his stomach churn in an unusual way. Harry has to pull his face away when he feels a hot and cold sweat start to take over his body. His head begins lightly spinning, and there is a wave of nausea that becomes overpowering. He has to slump back in his seat and take a couple of steady breaths in hopes of calming himself, but as the smell remains prominent, the more Harry feels like he's going to vomit. 

"Hey, baby, are you okay?" Louis quickly questions, leaning in to Harry's space and holding on to his arm. "You look pale, love."

Harry closes his eyes briefly and begins shaking his head to Louis' question. He can't even find the right words to describe exactly how he feels because when he feels the first tickle in his throat that indicates something is about to come up, he quickly jolts from the chair and runs straight towards the bathroom. Harry makes it just in time to an empty stall and gets down on his knees so he can throw up the food he had eaten today, which was just the soup and some saltine crackers. He hadn't even had a sip of alcohol tonight because Louis didn't want his stomach to get upset, but not even that could prevent him from throwing up. Louis quickly rushes in after Harry and gets up against his back so he can relax him as he continues to vomit, hearing Harry's soft whimpers of pain and his groans of discomfort that tear at Louis' heartstrings. 

"H, what happened?" Louis questions once Harry is slumped against the wall, head tilted back and eyes closed. Louis frowns and flushes the toilet for him and then reaches for some toilet paper so he can begin wiping Harry's mouth. "Are you sick, love? Do we need to take you to the doctor? I can take you right now to the emergency - " 

"Honey - " Harry interrupts with a weak laugh, slowly cracking his eyes and taking the toilet paper from Louis so he can wipe his own mouth clean. "I'm fine, I promise. There was just a smell that made me nauseous."

Louis lets out a relieved breath and slumps on the opposite wall, hand reaching out to hold Harry's ankle. "What smell was it?"

"It might have been the tequila Zayn got," Harry responds groggily. "Or the chicken wings that passed our table."

Louis lifts an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay? It's quite odd that made you sick. I mean, this is the second time you threw up today." 

It's actually the third, but Harry won't correct him. His secret throw up session after he ate the soup is between him and the toilet.

"Babe, I'm fine," Harry says instead, reaching across to grab a hold of Louis' hand. "It's just a little nausea. People have it. I might be coming down with the flu or summat." 

"If you say so." 

"I'm just sorry I ruined the night," Harry then pouts, blatantly glancing down at Louis' crotch where his hard on is not so noticeable anymore. 

Louis laughs lightly. "It's fine. You didn't ruin anything. The throw up kind of turned me off, but you can easily turn me on whenever you please." Harry rolls his eyes and playfully slaps Louis' chest. "Alright, babe, I mean, as long as you say you're feeling fine, then let's go back."

Louis helps Harry stand to his feet, and the two of them begin walking back to the table. Louis keeps a steady hand on Harry's back as he guides them through the crowd, but Louis ends up getting stopped by another person when they recognize who he is. Louis regretfully apologizes to Harry and quickly attends to the fan who is wanting an autograph and photo so Harry lets him be and quickly tries to get back so he can sit down and hopefully feel better. However, as Harry pushes his way through the crowd, he ends up bumping into another body. Harry is just about to say his apologizes and go on his merry way when he notices the stranger he bumped in to is a girl with a tiara on her head and a _Bride to Be_ satchel hanging around her neck. The next thing he notices is the giant rock on this girl's hand, and his eyes widen instantly when he catches sight of that fine piece of jewelry. 

"Oh, wow, you're engaged," he says breathlessly. "The ring is gorgeous." 

"Well, hello there," the girl greets instead, laughing at the look on Harry's face. "I'm Sadie, and yes, I just got engaged."

Harry blushes when he realizes he's been staring too long at her ring so he quickly looks up and offers her a smile. "I'm sorry. I'm Harry," he introduces. "I just - I have this weird obsession right now with rings and engagements. I've been waiting for my boyfriend to take the hint."

"I feel that," Sadie agrees with a head nod. "It took my girlfriend forever before she finally got the clue that I wanted to get married. She's the most oblivious person I've met."

"Louis is the same," Harry squeals, rolling his eyes at how accurate and relatable her statement is. "I just want to be engaged to him already but ... " Harry frowns and shows off his empty left hand. 

"He has no idea?" She wonders. 

"I mean, I talk about rings all the time. I even tried on engagement rings in front of him. I leave hidden tabs on his laptop, and every time there is a movie or a show playing with someone getting proposed to, I make sure we watch it." 

Sadie laughs. "And still nothing?" 

"He thinks I want new jewelry."

The two of them get interrupted when Louis approaches and places his hand on Harry's back, smiling briefly at Sadie before he's looking at Harry worriedly. "What are you doing, love? You should be sitting."

"I met someone," Harry preens, forgoing any manners and reaching for Sadie's hand. Sadie giggles and wiggles her fingers when Harry shows off her ring to Louis. "Look at her ring. She's engaged. Isn't that romantic? She's here for her bachelorette party because she's getting married soon. To her girlfriend. Who she's engaged to."

Louis raises his eyebrow, slightly eyeballing Harry, and then turning to give Sadie another smile. "Congrats, love. I'll make sure to send a round of drinks your way as a celebration."

"That's amazing," Sadie responds.

Louis nods and presses his hand further into Harry's back to get him to start moving. "Alright, let's go now, love. We should probably head home anyways since you're not feeling the best."

Harry and Louis wave Sadie off and go join Niall, Liam, and Zayn where they are already getting ready for the second performance. Louis quickly informs them that they'll be heading home since Harry isn't feeling well before Louis is ringing his driver to come pick them up. The lads end up staying at the club while Harry and Louis get back to the flat. Once the two of them make it home, Louis immediately goes to the stove to get the pot ready for their nightly tea as Harry takes a seat in the chair by the island. 

"So how are you feeling?" Louis asks again once he gets the kettle on the stove. 

Harry huffs and leans across the island, grabbing a hold of Louis' hands and squeezing them tightly. "I am fine, sweetie. Please, believe me."

"Okay, okay," Louis sighs, squeezing Harry's hand in return. "Just, if you haven't started feeling better in a few days, will you please go to the doctor? You never get sick, or throw up, and I want to make sure that you are okay and that - "

"I love you," Harry interrupts right away, smiling brightly while Louis widens his eyes at the sudden words. "Do you know that?"

Louis blushes and glances away. "I know that, angel, and I love you, too, but what's this about?" 

"I just never met someone who makes me the feel the way that you do," Harry says with a shrug, pulling Louis around the counter so that he can sit in the chair next to him. Once they're facing each other, Harry smiles and places his hands on top of Louis' thighs. "Why do you treat me so perfectly?"

"Because I'm in love with you," Louis responds easily. 

Harry giggles. "But why are you?"

"Because you think I'm the reason why we have to drink tea before bed every night when it is _in fact_ because of you and your crazy theory that if you don't, then you'll talk in your sleep," Louis replies with a fond smile. 

Harry shakes his head, confused, smiling, laughing. "What?"

"Or maybe it's because you like to dance in the kitchen every time you cook."

Harry swallows, feeling his eyes starting to suddenly water up. 

"It could be because of your dimples," Louis adds on as an after thought, smiling wide when those said dimples make an appearance on Harry's face. "Or how you raise your eyebrows when something troubles you." Louis hums as he reaches up to caress the side of Harry's face. "It could be the silly way you stick your tongue out before you take a bite or sip of anything - or how you cant go anywhere without your nails being painted a specific color. You also do this cute nose scrunch thing whenever you like what's going on, and you do it almost every single time we watch the same romantic comedies over and over again. It's quite endearing, especially when you start quoting those movies as we are watching them."

A tear rolls down Harry's cheek, and Louis gently wipes it away. 

"I think it might actually be how small you like to make yourself be around me even though you're a significant couple inches taller than I am. My perfect little spoon."

Harry giggles some more. "Stop it," he sniffs.

Louis hums and leans in closer, rubbing his nose against Harry's. "Honestly, it's probably because you're so insanely beautiful, and you don't even know it. If you could see yourself in my eyes, I don't think you would ever quit staring."

Harry blinks when he feels more tears, but he doesn't reach up to wipe them away. 

"I think what drew me in to you the most was the fact that you had absolutely no fucking idea who I was when we first met," Louis continues, Harry laughing in response. "I was just another person to you. I wasn't the football player or the idiot the media made me out to be. I was just me, and you were the only person who saw it this way and who wanted to see it this way. It was like my name or my fame didn't mean anything to you. You cared more about who I was as a person, and you honestly have helped me change for the better because of it."

The two get interrupted when the kettle starts steaming, jolting them both away from each other at the suddenness of the sound. 

"Harry, I love you so fucking much, and I can sit here and tell you all these reasons why I do, but I just don't think there are enough words in the english dictionary to explain even half of my feelings for you. It's not any of the big things. It's all those little things that make me love you more and more each day." Louis presses a kiss to Harry's cheek and finally goes to the stove to get the kettle off. He pours them each a cup of tea and then leads the way for the two of them to head towards the bedroom.

Once they are changed and resting on the mattress with their drinks, Harry cozies up against Louis' side. "You pay attention to all that stuff?" Harry wonders quietly, head resting on Louis' shoulder. 

"Harry, I remember the outfit you were wearing the first day I met you," Louis admits confidently. "You were sixteen years old. You were terrified of me - terrified, yet endeared - "

Harry pouts. "I was not endeared."

"You were wearing a cute, pink blouse," Louis continues, fingers finding their way into Harry's hair so he can begin carding through it. "Slightly shorter than me," he laughs. "Imagine that," he hums. "You had beautiful green eyes and such curly hair. I remember that's what I would call you in my head, _curly_ , and well, I just couldn't stop thinking about you. I didn't think it was normal that I craved to see you again so soon after meeting, but when I walked into that bakery and saw you behind the register, _my gosh_ , I was so happy. I wouldn't shut up to Zayn about you."

"I can't believe you remember all that," Harry says under his breath.

Louis shrugs his shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "Well, I love you." 

"I love you, too," Harry says instinctively, angling his body so he can properly kiss Louis. "And I do talk in my sleep if I don't have tea," he quickly adds. 

"It happened one time, babe, one time."

//

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 **ZaynMalik commented:** was this b4 or after he threw up? 

**HarryStyles** **replied:** go bother gigi

**LouisTomlinson replied:** HA!


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sensitive talk in chapter. Read with caution please.

It's another calm morning where Harry gets to wake up and enjoy the sight of Louis sleeping, and well, calm, in Harry's book, is that he has yet to feel the urge to throw up. For the past couple of weeks, Harry has really been struggling with morning sickness, and he isn't sure if it is because the weather constantly changes from hot to cold, or if he has maybe come down with a sickness, but whatever it is, it's made Harry constantly run to the bathroom everyday before the sun would even came up. However, today, Harry wakes up free with any urges to throw up, and he counts that as a victory since he can spend more time watching the small twitches in Louis' face and the soft flutters of his eyelashes every time he so much as moves in his sleep. This really is Harry's favorite part of the day. 

Harry hums as he continues to lay on his side, back still facing Louis' chest. He has a comfortable arm around his body that is keeping him secure, and he feels it subconsciously tighten when Louis moves around in his sleep. Another one of Harry's favorite morning past times is getting to lay in Louis' hold. As much as he loves watching the morning sun hit Louis' face, he loves, just as much, of being held by him. It's so warm and comforting to feel Louis' body pressed against his and Louis' arm keeping him in close. It's like, even in Louis' sleep, Louis has the strong urge to hold Harry close, and Harry loves that he's always wanted by Louis, conscious or unconscious. There's barely ever any space between them. Louis is always flushed against Harry's back so every inch of them touches so when Harry feels a small sliver of space between them where a cool draft is hitting against his back, he frowns and wiggles backwards to get more into Louis' space. That's when Harry suddenly feels something hard pressing against the back of his leg. 

"Oh," Harry squeals, eyes widening when he realizes what exactly is poking him. 

Honestly, Harry can't say this is the first time the past couple of weeks he has woken up to Louis' morning boner pressing against his leg. Ever since Harry's been feeling nauseous and vomiting, they haven't had time to really have sex. Of course, Harry is all for it, he's completely ready every time the moment comes, but it's Louis who has been holding off. It's been a constant cycle of Harry making a move and Louis turning him down with the sole intent of making sure Harry is healthy and not sick. It's been frustrating for Harry to deal with. He doesn't know where this sudden sex drive in him had come from, and he doesn't know why all of a sudden he's been craving Louis now more than ever, but he does, and every time Louis stops things from getting any further than kissing, Harry nearly feels like he's going to burst right out his skin. It's driving him mad, and all Harry wants these days is Louis' cock, like, is that too much to ask for?

Harry quickly arches his head off the pillow to read what the time on the digital clock says. It's only half past seven in the morning, and it's one of the first times Harry hasn't been woken up by his nausea. He feels good, _great even_ , and he still feels Louis' cock against the back of his leg. Harry smirks and tests his luck by wiggling backwards so he can rub up against Louis, pressing against him and moving around so that Louis can feel some relief in the heat that is pooling in his groin. Louis ends up groaning in his sleep and subconsciously pushing his hips further into Harry's ass where it's pressed up against him. Harry giggles when he wiggles his body again and gets the same reaction, knowing very well that their pause on sex has evidently been affecting Louis as much as it has been affecting Harry. Harry continues to test his luck by now moving away from Louis and getting out of his hold, carefully watching Louis' face scrunch up in discomfort before he's relaxing and rolling on to his back. Harry practically preens when Louis moves into the position that Harry is wanting. With Louis on his back, this gives Harry perfect access to slot himself in between Louis' legs so he can properly suck his boyfriend off. This really is a great morning and all the reason as to why Harry loves mornings in the first place. So, Harry carefully crawls over Louis' body and shimmies his way down so he can get himself in to position, giggling as he hides himself under the covers and becomes face to face with Louis' bulge. 

_Hm_ , Louis didn't sleep with pants on last night. Harry would think he'd remember this important detail. 

Harry feels a growing smirk on his face as he eagerly reaches out to grab a hold of Louis, more interested in the reaction he'll receive rather than actually doing anything yet. Harry carefully wraps his hand around the girth of Louis' cock and giggles when Louis' hips budge up into the touch, a small groan coming from Louis that Harry's anticipating to hear. Before Harry begins doing anything else, he briefly moves under the covers until he's back on his side of the bed so he can sneak a hand out from the cover to reach for the bottle of lube on his nightstand. He gets back into position and coats his right hand thorogouly with lube and then goes back to gripping Louis, eyes following the movement of his hand going up and down the length of Louis' cock. Louis responds again by twitching his legs out and gently rocking his hips up. There's another groan coming from him that sounds more like he's troubled than anything else. His legs start to move a little bit, like the feeling of Harry pumping him to full hardness is not something his body can even handle. Harry giggles when Louis continues to twitch and groan, and then finally, Harry brings his head closer to the tip of Louis' cock and wraps his lips right on the end of it. Harry sucks on it for a bit before he's relaxing his throat and moving his lips further down Louis' shaft until he's meeting where his hand is holding the base of Louis' cock. Harry then starts to move to a smooth rhythm of his mouth going up and down Louis' cock, still twisting his hand in sync to the movement of his lips and now hearing Louis' soft groans turning into whiny moans.

It takes a couple of seconds before Harry hears a breathy gasp coming from Louis when his cock reaches the back of Harry's throat, and he's nearly shooting up and out of the bed at the feel. His hands instinctively go to Harry's head to push him further down his cock, but he's still in such a daze from being abruptly woken up that he's hasn't registered it's Harry's head he's pushing down on himself. Louis blinks a couple of times and looks to the empty spot next to him with a furrow to his brow until his mind is catching up that a pair of lips are actually around his cock. He finally gets feeling of Harry's hair in between his fingers from where he's gripping the back of his head and curls his fingers deeper. Louis laughs a little as he uses his free hand to lift the cover up, ducking underneath to see bright, green eyes staring back at him and plump, red lips wrapped around his cock. 

"Early bird gets the worm, eh?" 

Harry blinks and then slowly drags his lips off, smiling once his mouth is no longer occupied. "I do love mornings."

Louis rolls his eyes and flings the covers down the bed so they are no longer hidden by them. He then reaches his hand out to grab on to Harry's arm so he can drag him up his body until Harry is laying on top of him, chest to chest. Louis smiles and wraps his arms around Harry's back, widening his legs so Harry can properly lay himself in between them. 

"This is a great way for me to wake up." 

Harry smirks, leaning forward to rub his nose along Louis'. "Then shut up and let me finish." 

Harry presses his lips against Louis' and kisses him like it's his reason to breathe. He eagerly licks his way into Louis' mouth and feels Louis' fingers digging into the back of his hips. One of Harry's hands remains on Louis' shoulder so he can hold on tightly to him while the other one begins to sneak down Louis' chest. Harry gets his hands back around Louis' cock and begins pumping him again, kissing every whine that comes from Louis' mouth and feeling every thrust of Louis' hips up into his hand. Harry can hear the way Louis' breathing comes out shaky through his nose, and he can feel the sting from where Louis' nails are digging deep imprints into his skin. Louis' kisses begin to get sloppier and messier, and right when Harry genuinely thinks Louis is about to come, he pulls both his hand and his mouth away. Louis opens his eyes at the loss of touch and frowns at Harry, but that frown soon turns into a smile when Harry changes his position to sit himself right on Louis' lap so his ass is pressing right up against Louis' cock. Louis' eyebrows shoot up his forehead, and his hands come out to hold on to Harry's hips. He licks his lips when Harry begins to slowly roll his ass around in circles before he's leaning down to kiss Louis again.

" _Fuck,_ Harry," Louis moans, pressing his tongue into Harry's mouth to kiss him harder while he uses the grip on Harry's hips to get him to move faster. " _Fuck,_ this feels good."

Louis sees stars when he finally comes. He has Harry's mouth sucking in his tongue, Harry's ass resting on his spent cock, and Harry's body tangled with his own. He's breathing heavily from where he is leaning back against the pillows, and when Harry finally pulls away from their kiss, he can see Harry's face flushed red and his boxers spoiled with his come. Louis smiles as his hands move around to Harry's back, biting his lip when his fingers come in contact with his spunk that he just released all over Harry's body. 

"You got your jizz all over me," Harry complains with a pout, tilting his head back to see some white splatters on the lower part of his body. 

"I could've gotten it in you if you were naked like me, baby," Louis teases with a smirk, playfully smacking Harry's ass. "I'm sure we can try again in the shower."

Harry rolls his eyes and is about to make a comment, but it's like a sudden train of nausea bustles right through him. There's a brief moment when the room spins a little, and there are black dots making appearance in his vision. Harry can nearly feel all the color draining from his face as he stares at the wall the bed is placed against, and he suddenly feels a quiver in his throat that makes his stomach churn in an unsettling way. 

Well, fuck, here comes the morning sickness again. 

Harry doesn't think twice about scrambling off of Louis' lap and rushing into the bathroom, making it just in time so he can drop to his knees and throw up all the contents in his stomach. Louis curses under his breath and grabs the closest towel in the bathroom to wrap around his waist before he's rushing behind Harry. 

"I thought I was done with this," Harry complains, groaning as he leans further in to the toilet to throw up some more. He whines once he gets this first wave of vomiting over with and ends up slouching against the wall, face scrunched in pain as he presses a hand to his chest. "It hurts so much, Lou."

Louis frowns as he quickly crouches down in front of Harry, carefully caressing the side of his face and tilting Harry's head in his direction. "Hey, love, can you look at me?" Harry groans again, but he lazily blinks his eyes up at Louis, now rimmed red from crying. "Tell me what hurts, baby." 

"M-my chest." 

"What else, love?" 

"My stomach. It feels like it's cramping so badly." 

Louis hums thoughtfully as he rest his hand on Harry's belly, gently rubbing his hand around. "You do look pale right now." 

"I think I'm peeing myself," Harry then blurts out, slightly mortified. He presses his hand to Louis' chest and pushes him away so that he can take a look inside his boxers. He's wearing gray ones, so when he takes a peak at the damp spot he sees forming at the bottom of the pouch, he sees that it's red, not yellow. Harry's eyes widen even more than they already were. "I-it's blood."

Louis' heart nearly jumps out his chest as he reaches forward to yank Harry to a standing position. He doesn't even think twice about pulling Harry's boxers off his legs. 

"Louis, what are you doing?" Harry nearly shrieks, pressing his hand behind his body and up against the wall so he doesn't fall over on his unsteady legs. Louis grunts in response and crouches down in front of Harry, face right in front of Harry's bulge. "Louis, stop looking at my dick."

Louis rolls his eyes and tilts his head up. "Babe, I've seen you naked plenty of times. I'm just taking a look at why there's blood in your bloody boxers." Louis looks back at Harry's cock and carefully takes a hold of it, running his finger along the tip and feeling a droplet of blood make it's way on to the pad of his finger. "Shit, babe, you are bleeding." Louis looks up at Harry and shows off the blood on his finger. 

Harry lifts an eyebrow. "Are you done looking at me now?" 

Louis huffs and pulls Harry's boxers back up his legs before he's standing. "Is this the first time this has happened to you?" 

Harry honestly wishes he could say yes, but it's not. This is not the first time that Harry has come across some light pink blood in his boxers. It's never a lot, but he has noticed it more the past couple of weeks that there would be fainted blood stains in his pants. He sometimes would also see some light blood mixed in with his pee whenever he goes to the bathroom, and he never really thought much of it when it happened, but now that there's an insanely worried look on Louis face, he's starting to realize just how serious this bleeding could be. 

"It's not the first time, is it?" Louis questions slowly, using Harry's pained face and his silence as his answer. Louis lets out a sigh and runs his fingers through his finger. "Harry, you cannot keep that shit to yourself. You've been throwing up consistently for the past month now, which, that's not normal, and now you're telling me that you've been bleeding as well? Your chest is in pain. Your stomach is in pain. You're just _unwell_ , H, and we need to get in with a doctor right away. We should have done it forever ago when this vomiting lasted longer than a week, and all I can hope is that everything is fine and we're not too late. Fuck, Harry, you make me so fucking worried with this shit, and I don't know what I would do if I - " 

"Hey, Louis, honey, please stop," Harry interrupts quickly once he realizes how emotional Louis is getting. He steps up to Louis and cups the side of his face, pouting when he sees tears building up in Louis' eyes. 

"Harry, it started off chest pains and vomiting with my dad."

Harry opens his mouth, but all that comes out is a shaky breath. Harry's fingers tremble as they slowly drop from Louis' face, and he feels his heart increasing at an anxious rate. Harry knew what was going on with him wasn't normal, but he also didn't know that this is what Louis dad had experienced before he was diagnosed with anything. Now, all Harry can think about is being more sick than he actually is, and the thought alone is enough to make Harry freak out on the inside. 

Louis must now see the fear written across Harry's face because he feels massive guilt wash over him, and he's quickly trying to get back into Harry's space. "Wait, baby, I didn't - " 

Harry saved when there is someone buzzing to get into the building. 

"I'll go get that," Harry says instead, blinking once, twice, three times before he's turning away to quickly get dressed. 

Louis stands in the bathroom and lets out a deep breath. This is not how he intended for this morning to go _at all._

After the two of them get dressed, they open the front door to see Gemma and Chance both standing there with a welcoming smile on their face and two suitcases by their feet. Louis raises an eyebrow. "Are you guys visiting us?"

"I thought Harry told you?" Gemma questions with a frown, glancing over at Harry who's staring at a blank space on the wall. Gemma watches him carefully before looking at Louis again. "Anyway," she coughs awkwardly. "We were just coming down for the week to visit you guys and mum."

"That's great," Louis says with a smile, inviting the two of them inside. Louis briefly glances at Harry one more time and sees that he's still zoned in on staring at the one spot so he decides to leave the boy alone to show Gemma and Chance the guest bedroom upstairs. 

The minute Harry is left alone, he grabs his wallet and keys and rushes out the flat.

//

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 **NiallHoran commented:** Okay ... This is cute. 

//

Harry anxiously waits in the chair until his name is called and he's being guided by a nurse to one of the rooms in the back. He feels even more shaky when he takes a seat up on the exam chair. The nurse takes all of Harry's standard vitals and is then walking out the room to leave Harry briefly alone. Harry only gets a couple of minutes where he attempts to calm his racing heart and steady his breathing, but with every second that passes of him sitting in this medical room, the more he feels about ready to jump out his skin. 

_Fuck,_ he really hopes everything is fine. 

"Hello, Harry?" Comes a bright voice from the other side of the door as it slowly creeps open. Harry turns his head into the direction and sees a female doctor walking in with her assistant following after. The assistant goes to stand at the counter while the doctor sits on her chair before she's rolling over to Harry. "Hi, how are you? My name is Dr. Walls." 

Harry smiles faintly and shakes the doctor's hand. "Hi, doctor. I'm Harry."

"It's nice to meet you. I see that you're in today because you've been throwing up consistently for the past month, is that correct?" 

Harry huffs and begins twiddling his fingers together nervously. "Yeah, _um,_ it just randomly happened one morning, and then after that, it just kept coming."

The doctor writes some notes down in Harry's chart and then looks up. "Have you noticed a pattern with the vomiting?"

"It happens mainly in the morning," Harry explains, heart beating even faster in his chest when Dr. Walls writes some more stuff down. "But it comes randomly through the day as well, especially if I smell certain things."

Dr. Walls hums. "Your blood pressure is a little high today. Do you have a family history of hypertension?" 

"No," Harry gulps, biting his lip. "I'm just really nervous. I'm not a fan of doctor's office." 

Dr. Walls smiles warmingly. "You're not the first, sweetheart," she tries to ease. "I just wanted to check. So, is there anything else besides the vomiting that happens?"

"My chest had started hurting. It feels like a tight pull, and then my stomach feels crampy a lot, which is strange."

Dr. Walls raises an eyebrow. "How long have you said this has been going on?"

"At least for the past month." 

"Are you having any other symptoms?" 

Harry glances down to his lap. "I'm bleeding a little bit, and I'm tired a lot. I feel _uh -_ I feel more horny than normal." Harry's face heats up. "Sorry," he mumbles under his breath. 

"It's okay, Harry. I know it's strange having to tell me all this stuff, but the more information I have, the better I can help," Dr. Walls amends with a smile. "Have you had any traumatic accident happen to you that would cause any changes to your health?" 

Harry's lips curve down. "My cousin passed away a couple months ago, but I went to therapy for it, and I feel like I was able to handle everything properly. I don't think that would cause any issues." 

"Most likely not with what you are describing," Dr. Walls says, going back to her chart to look at all the notes she jotted. "So, you're sexually active?" 

Harry's face flushes again. "Yes." 

"One partner or more than one?" 

"Just one ... For three years."

"Okay, Harry, I have to ask," Dr. Walls begins, setting the chart on her lap with a weak smile on her face. "How sexually active are you, and are we using condoms?" 

Okay, but, _does she really have to ask_? Harry thinks to himself. 

"Very active, and recently, no condoms," Harry whispers under his breath. "But we're both clean."

Dr. Walls grunts and then turns to look at her assistant. "Will you run a UHCG test please?"

Harry's eyes widen horrifically. 

"It's not cancer, do you think?" He blurts out. 

Dr. Walls turns back around and shakes her head. "No, these are fairly common symptoms with - "

"There's two," the assistant interrupts, referring to the results of the test she just did. 

Dr. Walls pauses and begins nodding her head, like she was expecting this to happen. Harry is still confused and scared and terrified. 

"So, Harry, we're going to run some blood work on you after this appointment that can show us a wide variety of what your blood type and count is. We can also see any detections of infections or STDs. We also test your urine to see if there is any issues with that. Now, if you wouldn't mind laying back while I do a quick exam with my hands. I'm just going to feel around your belly and your chest."

Harry frowns and slowly leans back on the exam chair. "Okay," he breathes out nervously. 

The Dr. stands up from her chair and walks over to the counter to put on some gloves. She then approaches Harry and begins feeling around his neck before she's moving down his chest and feeling around his pectoral muscles. Harry watches her face carefully to see if he detects any twitch or tinge in her features that would give away something is wrong. So far, she remains neutral as she moves down to his belly. She's more carefully when she touches him there, gently patting around until she finds a spot that makes Harry twinge in an uncomfortable way. 

"Do you mind if I do an ultrasound?" She questions Harry. 

"Will you be able to see inside of me?" 

Dr. Walls laughs. "Yes, we will both be able to see."

Harry relaxes a little more at the not worried look on Dr. Walls' face and finally can feel like he can rest a little better. He watches her pull over the ultra sound machine towards the bed and lets the assistant put all his information in the device while Dr. Walls lifts Harry's shirt up his belly. She grabs a bottle of some gel and puts a good amount on to his skin. Harry shivers at the cool feel of the liquid and quickly glances at the ultrasound machine once the doctor turns it on. The assistant goes to turn the lights off, and then there is a black and white image of the inside of Harry's belly popping up on the screen after Dr. Walls places the doppler on his stomach. Harrys eyes briefly widen at the images he's seeing, not entirely sure what he's looking at, but still amazed this device is showing what's inside his belly. He's never had an abdominal ultrasound like this before. 

"So, this is what I expected after listening to all your symptoms and running the UHCG test," Dr. Walls explains. She moves the doppler over towards the side of Harry's stomach that he previously twinged at when Dr. Walls did her hand exam, and something small and blobby ends up appearing on the screen. Harry's heart jumps. "Do you see this rounded sized thing?" Dr. Walls questions, turning the screen more towards Harry and pointing to what Harry is fearfully looking at. 

"What is that? Is it a tumor?"

Dr. Walls chuckles under her breath. "No, that is actually your baby. You're pregnant, Harry." 

"What?" Harry screeches, rising up on his elbows, eyes widening in surprise, heart rabbiting even more in his chest. " _Um,_ did you say pregnant?" 

"Yes, you are," Dr. Walls confirms, now touching all over the keyboard of the ultrasound machine so she can begin putting lines up on the screen. "It looks like baby is measuring around 7 weeks today - a quarter of an inch long right now - about the size of a blueberry."

Harry stares breathlessly up at the screen where he sees his supposed baby. He literally cannot believe he's hearing this doctor correctly right now because from what's being said, it sounds like he is a pregnant, like actually pregnant. A whole ass fetus in his stomach. It's hard enough for Harry to have to process this in his mind so abruptly, but to actually see it right there in front of him just makes his entire world spin. Harry needs to take a walk or drink some water or take a nap because he swears he's living in some sort of crazy, alternative reality. 

"And we can't we hear the heartbeat today, but we can see it," Dr. Walls continues, changing the settings on the ultrasound machine so a blue dot appears. The blue dot begins thumping like a heart, and Harry's eyes widen even more in shock, hand instinctively reaching out to place right above where the doppler is. 

"I don't understand," Harry finally says, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm a boy. How can I be pregnant?"

Dr. Walls hums in thought as she begins taking pictures of the images up on the screen. "So, this is actually something newer that the medical field has faced. Within the past couple decades, we have been seeing sudden cases of male pregnancies. There still doing a bunch of research on how this even possible, but the best we can say is that evolution is adapting in a way where all genders can reproduce and-or the male gender is born with female reproductive parts on the inside but male genitalia on the outside." Dr. Walls takes a couple more pictures before she's finally removing the doppler and wiping the gel off Harry's belly. "I'd say this year alone, we've already had four confirmed male pregnancies. Two have delivered successfully, the others are still pregnant."

Harry scoffs, eyebrows pinched. "Is this because I'm gay?" he questions, voice slightly raised. "Because I'm the one that likes to receive? Is that how this works?"

"Not necessarily," Dr. Walls says with pursed lips, going back to her rolling chair. "We have confirmed some straight males with the ability to reproduce. It doesn't have to be linked with sexuality, it's just more the mystery of evolution and fetal development in the womb."

"So ... I have ... female parts?"

Dr. Walls shrugs. "More like, you have developed a uterine like sac for the embryo to grow in. The cervix and uterus that forms is connected both to your rectum and your penis, which is how you were able to get pregnant from anal intercourse. It doesn't make sense, even to the person with a medical degree, but from the research we've done on male pregnancies, this is the reproductive link we were able to see."

"But, I have eggs?" Harry questions slowly. "And ovaries?" 

"No ovaries., and you don't develop any eggs. You're just born with a limited set that rests in your uterus, and whenever you have repetitive anal penetration, a sperm is bound to find it's way through that small cavity that connects the uterus to the rectum."

"I just - I want to kill Louis right now. I can't believe he did this to me."

Dr. Walls laughs as she rolls back over to the machine to grab the pictures she printed for Harry. "It looks like your due date will be in mid April - "

"April?" Harry gawks. 

"Based on how we are measuring today, yes," Dr. Walls confirms. "However, since male pregnancies run an increase risk of complications, I plan to do a cesarean section a week or so before your due date." 

"There's risk?" Harry questions with a nervous gulp. 

"There's a big risk if you go into the labor. The baby can end up dropping into your penal cavity, and this is life threatening to both you and baby. Male pregnancies are still a rarity so we will have to closely monitor you throughout the duration of your pregnancy. We'll more than likely have you visit the office more frequently than the average pregnant woman, and we'll have to increase your estrogen levels with medication to make sure you have enough while developing baby."

"How life threatening is me being pregnant?" 

Dr. Walls takes a second to respond to this question. 

"There's always a risk with any pregnancy, but in males, it nearly doubles," she admits truthfully. "I have to be truthful here, our main concern is healthy baby and healthy patient, however, your health is our main priority. If we see this pregnancy is causing any sort of complication with your health and-or life, we will have to consider taking action to ensure _your_ safety. This is why we will monitor you more extensively to help prevent and limit any of these risks."

Harry feels his heart sinking to his stomach. "What would be the action you'll have to take?" he questions hesitantly, nervously. 

"Termination."

Harry's heart officially stops. 

"This is if it's necessary though, but since it's always a possibility, I need to make you aware," Dr. Walls continues, seeing Harry's face beginning to pale. "I do recommend you joining a support group or continuing to see your therapist to help get you through this pregnancy with just handling everything that's going on. I think the more help we can have in making sure you're healthy and happy the better we can go with proceeding a smooth pregnancy."

"O-okay."

"Will husband be in for your next appointment? We'll be able to hear the heart beat then." 

Harry doesn't even have the energy to correct her or gush about being called Louis' husband again. He's still so shell shocked about everything that has happened that he mutters a soft "I don't even know if I'll be in" before he's having to lay back on the exam chair and passing out. 

//

Harry leaves the doctors once he's recovered and well enough to walk. He ends up driving over to Hyde Park and hoping his view over the bridge can be enough to clear his mind and calm him down. He walks over to his spot that's the post at the end of the bridge and leans over it so he can watch the water run over the rocks. He only gets a few seconds of this smooth peace before he hears a child laughing off in the distance. Harry frowns and turns his head to the side to see a young father running around the open grass with his daughter. The two of them laughing and looking happier than ever. Harry finds himself watching them with a brief smile and a small pressing thought that this could be him one day with his child. He could bring his daughter or son to the park and show them one of his favorite places in London. He could push them on the swing and help them down the slide. He really could be the perfect father that brings his child joy like that dad is bringing to his daughter.

But then, Harry is reminded, he's the one who is pregnant. He's the one who is going to be growing a baby inside his body, something he never thought was physically possible. As exciting as Harry has always been about growing a family, he never intended on him being the one to actually grow it. Harry doesn't know if he could live with himself everyday having the constant, judging stares of people looking at his belly and the invasive questions on how he can even get pregnant in the first place. It sounds stressful, and miserable, and honestly the last thing Harry wants to deal. Out of all the shit Harry had gone through, he is finally in a place where he can be happy in his own skin, but now, with this pregnancy, he feels like he's about to make a full circle back in that dark place that always left him anxious and miserable. 

Harry is just about ready to break down in tears when there is suddenly someone walking up next to him, and for a brief second, Harry has this moment of fear that it's Louis who had found him, but he's slightly relieved to see that it's only his sister who had apparently searched for him. 

"Louis told me that you might be here," Gemma explains softly, resting up against the post next to Harry and looking out at the river below. "He said something happened this morning before we got here, and that he upset you." 

Harry shrugs his shoulders and pouts. "Is he worried?"

"You just left the flat, H. You've been gone for hours. I've been sitting in my car waiting for you to finally show up here, _yeah_ he's worried."

Harry feels his eyes suddenly watering up. "I'm sorry," he mumbles weakly, swallowing the thick lump that's forming in his throat. 

"Harry," Gemma says gently, placing a hand on Harry's back. "What's going on? You're starting to have _me_ worried."

Harry sniffles and finally looks at Gemma. "I'm pregnant," he whispers under his breath, trying so hard to not burst in to tears. 

"You're what?"

"Pregnant," Harry says much clearer this time, eyes closing as the wave of tears begin falling down his cheeks. 

"Hey, no, it's okay, H, don't cry." Gemma immediately steps in to Harry's space and wraps an arm around his body, bringing him in close to her chest so she can hug him through his tears. "Everything is going to be fine."

Harry opens his eyes and retracts his head. "How do you know?" He questions, bottom lip trembling. "I am a boy, Gemma. Boys aren't supposed to get pregnant. It's not normal. I'm not normal. I'm a freak, and Louis is going to hate me and hate us, and I really don't think I can go through with this. I can't be some strange human mutant that can carry babies, Gemma. I can't do this. I can't tell Louis. I can't have this baby."

Gemma shushes Harry and brings him back against her chest. "Hey, can I tell you something?" She questions softly, feeling Harry slowly nod against her body. "The year before you met Chance, me and him had an on again - off again kind of relationship." Harry's tears begin slowing down, and he pulls his head away to wipe under his eyes. "We both didn't know what we wanted from each other, and we were too shy to do anything about it. Well, during this, we kind of got into an argument about the future of our relationship, and we ended up breaking things off because we weren't on the same page." 

"What does this have to do with anything?" Harry questions with a pout. 

Gemma smile. "I found out I was pregnant," she then admits, Harry freezing at the confession. "I was having the symptoms, and I took a test - it was positive. Me and him weren't even together, and I was terrified to tell him." 

"You were pregnant?"

"I was," Gemma says with a sigh. "It was scary for me to accept, and I had many doubts about if I was ready for a baby. I mean, I was still in Uni. I wasn't even with Chance at the time. I felt like my whole world was falling apart." 

"Is that why you didn't come home for the holidays?"

Gemma nods. "I eventually told Chance, right before my appointment, and he was pretty happy about it. Of course, we had a long talk about everything, but ultimately, he wanted to be by my side." Gemma's smile begins to faint. "He was unable to go to my appointment, I think he had a test or summat, but I went when I was around ten weeks for the first time to actually confirm I was pregnant. I got some cool pictures of my baby, and more importantly, I heard their heartbeat." Gemma pauses when Harry's eyes widen. "And Harry, let me tell you, everything changed for me when I finally got to hear my baby. It was like, nothing else mattered but them, and I was so happy, but then shortly after, I just - the baby didn't make it. I had a miscarriage, unexpectedly." 

"You what?" Harry gasps.

"It just happened. I had really bad stomach pains. I was bleeding a lot, and the baby just stopped developing." Gemma swallows when she feels a lump form in her own throat, eyes starting to gloss with tears. "I was so heartbroken because one minute baby was there, and had a heart beat, and was measuring good and then the next, nothing." Gemma looks down at her lap and wipes under her eye. "Chance didn't even get to hear the baby's heart beat. He didn't even get to see our baby on the ultrasound. He just went to my appointment where they told me baby was no longer developing and no heart was detected, and that was that. I only had two appointments during that short pregnancy. " 

"I'm so sorry, Gemma."

"It was definitely a tough time, but it did bring me and Chance together," Gemma continues. "I mean, you don't realize how much everything changes when you finally get to hear their heartbeat, and then you also don't realize how quickly you get attached to the baby until it's too late for you to actually appreciate it. It was hard, but, you know, I'd give anything just to hear that sound again - to have Chance hear the heart beat." Gemma blinks a couple of times and looks back at Harry. "I know what you're going through is scary, and I know it's a miracle that you're even pregnant, but I just want you to know Harry that all these doubts and fears that you're having, it just all washes away the first time you hear the beat of your baby's heart giving it life. You do whatever it is you need to do to make yourself feel comfortable, but just remember Harry, the choice you make paves a certain path for your future, and I just don't want you deciding anything so rashly and ending up regretting it all. Take time to accept this Harry. Take time to tell Louis. Take the time that you need to feel comfortable, H, but just know one thing, you're the best person to become a parent, and no matter what you decide or do, just know that I'll be by your side - Louis will be by your side, we will all be by your side. You're not alone, Haz, you never will be. It's going to be scary. It's going to be stressful, but once you finally get your little baby in your arms, none of those problems will ever matter to you."

"Thank you, Gems," Harry says earnestly, bringing Gemma back in for another hug. "I'm sorry you lost your baby. I can't even imagine how you felt." Harry snuggles closer into Gemma's neck. "I'm also sorry your first day visiting you had to babysit your baby brother."

Gemma laughs and pulls back slightly. "What are big sisters for?" She asks with a shrug. "I actually came to visit because me and Chance had an announcement to make." 

Harry lifts an eyebrow. "What is it?" Gemma bites her lip and then lifts up her left hand, showcasing a shiny new ring right on her finger. "Shut up," Harry gawks, reaching out to grab her hand. "He proposed?" 

"The other day," Gemma squeals. "We were coming down to tell you guys."

"You are the luckiest bastard in the world." 

"Oh, shut up," Gemma scolds, slapping at Harry's hand so she can break free from his hold. "Before you know it, Louis will be putting a ring on your finger too."

Harry rolls his eyes. "One can only hope," he huffs.

//

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//

Harry knew the second he walked into the flat that Louis would be rushing up to him and peppering his face in kisses. Louis' arms immediately wrap around Harry's body, and he's pulling him in as close as he possibly can, squishing Harry tightly.

"I'm so sorry, love. I didn't mean to scare you or upset you or anything. Fuck, i've been worried all day, and I feel so bad that I - " 

"Louis," Harry interrupts with a giggle, pressing his hand to Louis' chest. "Everything is fine. I'm okay. I was scared, yes, but I went to the doctor." 

Louis tilts his head, eyes squinting. "They said you were fine?" 

"I'm not dying," Harry clarifies.

Louis lets out a relieved breath and brings Harry in for a hug. "Thank fuck."

"I'm glad you're back though, Louis wouldn't stop bothering me about you," Chance calls from his place on the couch. Harry turns his head on Louis' shoulder and watches as Gemma walks over to join him, a soft smile on his face as he sees Chance kiss her cheek.

"I told him," Gemma whispers as she leans closer to Chance. 

Chance lifts his eyebrows. "You did?" he questions, frowning a little. "I thought we were going to tell them all at dinner tonight?" 

Gemma shrugs. "I wanted to tell him first." 

"Tell who what?" Louis interrogates once his ears catch on to the conversation. He keeps his arm wrapped around Harry and walks them over to the adjacent couch to sit on. 

Chance rolls his eyes over to Louis. "That we're engaged." 

"Oh, right." 

Gemma and Harry both frown. 

"You already knew?" Gemma questions. 

"Yeah," Louis responds slowly. "Me and Chance talked about it while you two were gone." 

Gemma scoffs and turns towards Chance. "And you got all whiny when you found out I told Harry."

Harry starts giggling when the two of them begin bickering about who told what, and Harry watches on with a smile on his face while cuddled up into Louis' side. He really is happy for his sister, especially after hearing the story she told him in the park. It makes Harry's heart warm up knowing that Chance and Gemma were able to grow from their situation and become a stronger couple because of it. Harry can only hope once he gets the courage to actually tell Louis that he's pregnant that he and Louis will get closer as well. His biggest fear is how Louis will react, and he only hopes things between them don't turn for the worse once the cat is out of the bag. 

In the midst of Gemma and Chance arguing, Harry's phone buzzes in his pocket. He reaches for it to see who messaged him, and upon seeing Niall's name and three back to back notifications popping up on his screen, he quickly pulls the messages up to see why Niall is texting him so urgently. 

_BRO ,_ the first one reads. 

_CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE THAT RELEASED TODAY_ , is the second. 

Finally, the third, an article link - **_Breaking News:_** _Louis Tomlinson caught leaving a ring shop. Is there a proposal for the future of this football star?_

And, well, Harry just about near shits himself when clicks the link to see pictures of Louis browsing fancy rings. _Fuck_ , Harry really might be getting a ring soon. 


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just noticed something sort of sad ... There's 10 chapters left of this story ):

Harry is ..... stressed. 

On top of learning that he has the capability to get pregnant, and discovering that his sister is now engaged, Harry feels like everything in the world is piling up on his shoulders. It's been almost two weeks since Harry had his appointment with Dr. Walls that confirmed his pregnancy, and it's been two weeks that he's been playing this continuous game of avoiding talking to Louis. Harry has yet to actually inform Louis that he's expecting _their_ child. It's like a dirty secret Harry keeps stored underneath loose fitted t shirts and early morning sneak arounds to go throw up. It's crazy how much effort Harry puts in to pushing all his problems away instead of just being up front with everything. 

Harry wishes he can tell Louis the truth. Harry wishes that everything will be fine once Louis does know. Harry wishes that Louis won't find him repulsive or a freak, but most of all, Harry just wishes he can accept the fact that he's pregnant because he knows if he keeps living in this state of denial, then he'll get no where with anything. He has about one more week left until he has to go back to the doctors, and he's still wary on actually keeping through with this pregnancy or not. He wants everything to be happy and to enjoy this journey with Louis by his side, but it's still hard for Harry to wrap his head around the fact that he has an actual baby inside his belly. Harry loves babies. He loves children and the idea of starting a family so he knows he should be over the moon that he's finally at the opportunity of getting what he wants, but for some reason, he just can't. Harry simply can't find the good in anything that results from this unexpected pregnancy. 

To clear his mind from all this stress about being pregnant and debating on when to tell Louis, he ends up driving over to Niall's flat to see if his best friend can offer him some sort of advice or cue on what to do. All Harry had for help was his sister, but she's been so preoccupied celebrating her engagement and nagging Harry to just fess up that Harry has lost hope on turning to her. He needs someone to talk through with this, and it's honestly probably a good idea to call up Dr. Barnes to have a therapy session about this whole situation, but Harry just wants comfort. He wants the comfort of his best friend supporting him and ensuring that no matter what, Harry will be okay and his relationship with Louis will be okay. Harry wants someone he knows and trusts to reassure this pregnancy is not the end of the world. He's not even sure if his own therapist could properly help him at this point because who the fuck knows how to properly handle a male pregnancy? Sure as hell not Harry's therapist that works primarily on mental health. 

Fuck, Harry is in for a shit show of a ride these next couple of months. 

Harry hesitantly knocks on Niall's front door once he eventually makes his way from the garage up to his flat. He stands there for a few seconds shifting the weight between his legs and tightening his jacket around his body because he fears that everything about him right now just screams _pregnant._ He tried wearing a looser shirt today, and he's glad the weather is beginning to cool down for him to find an excuse to wear a jacket. He knows he's only in his first trimester, and there's really nothing showing other than his flat stomach now looking more bloated than ever. No one has noticed yet, and Harry has managed to keep Louis from seeing him naked so at this point, Harry has been doing a pretty good job at pushing the pregnancy to the back of his mind. He's still not even able to accept it himself, clearly. He doesn't know why he can't find the confidence to sit down and talk to Louis about this. He doesn't know why he just wants to forget about everything going on, and he really doesn't know why he's showing up to Niall's place like this. Harry honestly doesn't know what to do, but he can't be around his sister - she'll just nag him to tell Louis - and he can't be around his mother - considering she'll probably ground Harry for life if she knew Harry had gotten himself knocked up - and he can't be around Louis because, well, he hates lying to him. So his best option is Niall, and all Harry can hope at this point is that Niall will give him some sort of answer that can help him with this problem. 

However, when the door to Niall's flat finally opens, it's not Niall who's greeting him. 

"Jake?" Harry chokes out, wrapping the jacket even more around his belly. 

Jakes eyes widen when he realizes it's Harry who had come visit, and Harry mentally curses because he fucking forgot that Jake and Niall are _in fact_ friends. 

"Where's Niall? I need to see him." 

Harry tries to walk past Jake to get into Niall's flat, but Jake side steps him swiftly. "Wait, Harry, can we please talk about what happened?"

"There is nothing to talk about it," Harry stubbornly says, eyes hardening. "Quite frankly, I haven't even thought about what happened or about you in ages. Louis and I are back together, and I'm more than happy with him." 

Jake's face falls, and Harry can quite literally see his heart fall right out of his chest. "Seriously?" Jake breathes out, a frown set to his lips. "You can't be serious about going back to him? You spent _weeks_ complaining about him - "

"I complained about not being able to see him," Harry corrects _matter of factly._ "And we both had things about ourselves we needed to work on, and that's what we did on our break. None of it had anything to do with you. That night I was with you, I ran straight to him." 

Jake rolls his eyes. "You deserve better than him." 

"You think better is you?" Harry snaps back. "He's the love of my life - my soulmate - _nobody_ has anything compared to him - not even you."

"I just don't see him being the person you want him to be forever," Jake admits truthfully, body leaning against the edge of the doorway.

"You're wrong," Harry swallows. "He's planning to propose any day now, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life being his husband."

Harry is glad that Niall finally makes his appearance, eyebrows raised as he carefully steps next to Jake's side, eyes casually glancing between the two boys. "Hey, H. What's going on here?" 

Harry cocks his head and glares at Jake. "Jake was just seeing his way out." 

"I - " 

"Bye," Harry interrupts him before Jake has the chance to say anything else. 

Jake rolls his eyes and grabs his keys that are hanging on the key rack by the door. He brushes past Harry to head towards the elevator, and Harry doesn't hesitate in replacing his spot inside Niall's flat. Harry smiles as he shuts the door behind him to finally be free of that pig. He quickly glances up at Niall to see that he still has a confused look on his face, and then he's looking past to see Ellie in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of tea. That's when Harry remembers the main reason why he came to Niall's flat in the first place, and he's back to feeling like eyes are staring right at his belly. Harry gulps and wraps his arms around his middle, feeling the growing insecurity beginning to wash over him again. 

"Hey," Niall eases once he realizes the shift in Harry's demeanor, stepping forward and pressing a hand to Harry's shoulder blade. "Are you okay? You're getting pale." 

Harry shakes his head and walks over to the dining table, abruptly taking a seat. "I don't know," he whispers, elbows going on the table so he can rest his head in his hands. 

"Hey, Harry," Ellie greets once she has her tea poured and is making her way into the dining area. She notices the slight frantic look on Harry's face and slows her pace down so she can give Niall a questioning look. 

Niall simply shrugs. 

"I'm glad you're here," Ellie continues softly, giving her cup of tea to Harry instead and taking the seat across from him. Niall quickly joins her as well. "I know you been busy working with Chelsea's media team, but I was wondering if you were interested in taking some pictures for me, and then maybe for a friend." 

Harry blinks, takes a small sip of tea, and then looks at Ellie. "Y-Yeah, sure." 

"For me, I just want graduation pictures. I think they're the cutest thing ever," Ellie explains with a smile. "For my friend, she actually just had a baby and would love to do some sweet, new born baby pictures. Everyone she has been looking at is pricey, and I know you are an aspiring photographer so I mentioned your name to her." 

Harry blanches. "Baby?" he whispers. 

Ellie raises her eyebrow and glances at Niall. " _Uh -_ yeah, she has a baby."

Well, so does Harry. 

"Right." Harry swallows, setting his cup of tea on the table and then moving his fingers to his lap. He begins fiddling with the ends of his shirt and glances down to avoid Ellie and Niall's eyes. "Right," he repeats again, suddenly having the urge to just blurt it out himself that he's having a baby as well. It feels wrong to tell Niall before he tells Louis, but at this point, it seems like that is what Harry needs to calm the insanity going on in his head. 

"Haz, are you okay? You're acting weird," Niall questions, concerned, reaching his leg out under the table to nudge his foot against Harry's. 

"I know I'm acting weird," Harry complains with a groan, slouching back in his seat. "I have a lot going on, and I'm kind of freaking out. I don't know what to do or what to say or who to talk to. I'm avoiding Louis. I'm avoiding my sister. I'm avoiding my problems because I don't even know what I'm supposed to do about anything, and it's hard for me to admit that I'm p ... that I'm having a ... " Harry huffs when the words still don't come out so he ends up reaching in his jacket pocket to grab his wallet before pulling out an ultrasound picture the doctor had printed for him at his first visit. Harry swallows and hands it over to Ellie and Niall. 

Ellie is the one who grabs it first, a slight furrow to her eyebrows as she brings the ultrasound picture in front of her and Niall so they can look at it together. "It's a sonogram," she states slightly confused, lips pursed as she glances at Niall to see if he understands what's going on. 

Niall cocks his head back. "H, this has your name on it," he notes, equally confused, grabbing the picture himself so he can look properly. "It says gestation of seven weeks." Niall places the picture on the table and looks up at Harry. "What the bloody hell does that mean?"

"Niall, it's a sonogram with Harry's name on it. Think a little harder," Ellie sasses, shaking her head and looking up at Harry as well, now softening her features when she notices how nervous he seems. "You're pregnant?"

Harry bites his lip and nods. 

"Harry, I can't even believe you have sex with Louis in the first place, but now you're saying you're pregnant?" Niall questions breathlessly, eyes slightly widen. "This is crazy. How did this even happen? Did no one give you the birds and the bees talk? Sex is bad." 

Harry rolls his eyes and kicks his leg out underneath the table so he hits Niall, feeling himself start to relax now that he sees Niall and Ellie looking relatively not disturbed by the fact he is pregnant. 

"Harry, congrats, this is amazing," Ellie then adds in, smiling. "But yeah, how is this even possible? This is like a miracle baby of some sorts." 

Harry shrugs his shoulders. "The doctor say theres a lot of research right now to see why male pregnancies have been evolving, but I guess I was just one of the ones who got the ability to get pregnant. It's some sort of scientific phenomenon. I don't know. It doesn't even make sense to me." 

"I should have known when I caught you and Louis shagging with no condom that something would happen," Niall tsks. 

Ellie raises her eyebrows. "You've seen them shag before?"

"So many times," Niall groans dramatically. "And it's always Louis sticking it in, you know, Harry you should - "

"Not the time," Harry quickly interrupts, grimacing a little. "We don't need to talk about sexual position right now. I have a baby in my stomach and I am a male. Let's focus on that."

Niall coughs. "Right." 

"Have you talked to Louis about this? Is he excited?" Ellie questions. 

Harry falters a little, leaning back against the chair with a slouch. "That's the thing. I haven't told him yet."

"You told us before him?" Niall pinches his brows together. "How come?" 

"I actually told Gemma before anyone."

"Harry," Ellie says with a sigh, reaching her arm across the table so she can grab Harry's hand. "You need to talk to him about it. How long ago was this scan?" 

Harry glances at his lap. "Almost two weeks ago." 

"It's been two weeks since you found out?" Niall gasps, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. "Shit, man, you need to talk to Louis." 

Harry groans, covering his face with his hands. "I know, I know," he whines. "It's just hard. I mean, I'm a boy. Boys are not supposed to get pregnant. I don't even know how he'll react to this information, and I'm terrified that he'll think I'm some sort of freak. I already think I am a freak." 

"You're not a freak, Harry," Ellie eases, reaching for Harry's hand again. 

"I haven't even gone back for a follow up appointment because I have no idea what I'm even going to do," Harry continues, emotions now starting to overwhelm him as tears begin filling his eyes. "They want to closely monitor me, and they told me all the risks I could have with even going through this pregnancy, but I'm at the point right now where I don't even know if it's all worth it. I don't want to be known as the freak who got pregnant. It's embarrassing."

Niall frowns. "You know Louis loves kids, and he's so good with them. His eyes light up every time he sees you playing with his little sisters. It's so obvious he wants to start a family with you." 

"Yeah, I always thought we would adopt or something," Harry mumbles with a pout. "I never thought I would be pregnant. Louis probably never expected me to get pregnant, and now I am. It's just ... this gives people something else to talk about, and I'm tired of always having a label that makes me look bad." Harry wipes his eyes when a stray tear rolls down his cheek. "You know, I'm a gold digger. I'm a cheater. I'm not good enough. I'm too feminine. I'm the boy who can get pregnant. I just don't want this to follow me for the rest of my life ... or my child's life."

Ellie gets up from where she is sitting across from Harry and walks over to the spot next to him. She scoots herself close to him and brings him into her side with an arm going around his shoulder. "Listen to me, Harry. Having your own child changes your whole world. The first time you hear your baby's heart beat, or the first time you get to actually hold your baby, all those negative things surrounding you will just become a distant blur. Because that little baby you get to raise and grow one day, is _yours_. That baby is yours and Louis', the constant reminder that your love for one another was strong enough to create a life. It's going to be hard, and people are going to talk, but when you have your child looking up at you like you're their whole world, you'll realize that those people mean _absolutely nothing_. No matter what you do, Harry, there's going to be people who support you or be against you, but the only thing you can ever do about anything is be in control of your own life. You'll never be able to control what other people do or say so instead of letting yourself drown in the hate, let yourself drown in the unconditional love your child will have for you. They'll forever be your baby - your masterpiece - the combination of you and Louis. They'll be what matters to you the most."

Harry hates that his hormones are all over the place and is making him cry so much, but he thinks, maybe now, he can build up enough courage to finally talk to Louis, to finally embrace the fact that he gets to bring his own little human into this world to love for all eternity. 

So, yeah, maybe Harry can do this. Maybe he can tell Louis.

//

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//

Harry has officially decided. 

Harry decided he is going to go home. He is going to talk to Louis, and he is going to let Louis know that he is carrying their child. Harry has officially accepted the fact that he is pregnant, thanks to Ellie, and he has finally come to terms that this is something he can do and handle. The idea of having a growing belly and experiencing all the pregnancy symptoms his mother used to gripe to him about before is starting to really excite him. His belly is already bloated, and he knows as time goes on that it will only get bigger. Harry knew having a family one day was inevitable since he's always adored kids and the idea of being married so now that he is getting a jump start to his future with Louis is just fantastic.

Harry is really pregnant. He is nine weeks. He really has a combination of his and Louis' genes morphed together to create a little baby that is currently in his stomach. Now that the initial wave of fear and nerves and doubt had washed out of Harry's system, he's now embracing how excited and happy he is that he is one of the lucky ones who has the ability to get pregnant. He's so fucking excited, and he's so fucking ready to tell Louis. He's ready to have Louis by his side through this whole journey and be the perfect dad to their child. They're going to be raising their baby together and watching them grow into an amazing person, and Harry knows that when the day comes of him actually getting to hold their little boy or little girl, that he's going to be over the fucking moon. Harry hopes their baby has Louis' eyes and his head of curls. He's definitely shooting for baby to have Louis' personality because he's more lively and social. Harry's hoping baby is not as clumsy as him but maybe hoping they can get his artistic ability. There's so many things that Harry is looking forward to see with what their baby gets from either him or Louis, and he can only hope at this point that Louis will be equally as excited as he currently is. 

Harry finally gets home after leaving Niall's place and opens the front door to their flat. "Louis?" he calls out, feeling super giddy on the inside because he's just so anxious with finally telling Louis. 

Harry steps into the front foyer of the flat and notices that it's eerily quiet. There's an empty bowl and coffee mug right next to the kitchen sink where Louis evidently was too lazily to actually clean up with one of the kitchen cabinets left open. Harry furrows his eyebrows together and puts his keys on the key rack only to notice that Louis' are not there. It's then when Harry remembers that Louis has practice today with Chelsea and he must have left some time after Harry snuck out the flat to meet Niall. Harry deflates a little because he was really hoping Louis would be on the couch for when he got home so he could just blurt out that he's pregnant, but now he has to wait, and waiting brings back the nerves. Harry figures he can occupy his time until Louis gets home by doing things around the flat and freshening himself up so that he isn't sitting around stressing himself out. He still has the ultrasound picture in his hand because he intended on giving this to Louis, but instead he ends up placing it on the counter next to his bag before he goes to clean up the mess Louis left by the sink. 

Harry picks up some things around the place and then walks over to the bedroom to take a shower. Showers typically calm Harry down, and to keep himself from freaking out about the big announcement he has for Louis, he tries doing all the things that relax him. He makes sure he washes his body a couple of times with his scented body wash and even takes the extra time to use a scrub to make his skin soft. After, he covers his body and hair in a towel and walks over to the edge of the bathtub so he can begin painting his nail. He's not sure how much longer Louis' practice will be, but if he can already have a shower and painted nails completed by the time Louis gets home, then Harry knows he'll be just about as cool as a cucumber. Speaking of, Harry kind of wants of cucumber. Harry finishes up the last bit of paint on his toes before he's setting the nail polish off to the side so he can put some clothes on his naked body. He puts the joggers on carefully to not mess up his painted toes and then a loose t shirt over that can hide the small pudge he is beginning to form. He knows at nine weeks there is not much to see, but he's still self conscious that _pregnant_ is just written all over his body. 

Once Harry is dressed, cleaned, and freshened up, he walks out the bedroom and heads toward the kitchen, intending on getting that cucumber he suddenly started craving. Harry suddenly stops when he sees Louis is home, standing at the kitchen counter with his back facing Harry and the ultrasound picture in his hand. Harry gasps when he realizes what Louis is holding, feeling every ounce of color drain from his face and the sudden urge to vomit everything he had eaten that morning. 

"Harry?" Louis says slowly, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips turned in a frown as he turns around to show off the picture he's holding. He raises it up a little higher and glances at it as if to silently ask Harry what the heck he is looking at. 

Harry gulps. "Y-yes?" he questions nervously, fingers coming out to grip the ends of his shirt. 

"What the hell is this?"

Harry cowers a little at the sharp tone Louis uses and at the slight disgruntled look on his face. He knows he's about to cry any minute now. 

" _Um_ \- it's a baby." 

Louis blinks, lets out a heavy breath, and takes a step closer to Harry. "Who's baby is it?"

"It's ours," Harry whimpers, tears beginning to fill his eyes at the sudden wave of emotions that begin to bombard him. Harry closes his eyes and lets out a choked sob, hands reaching down to his belly. "I'm pregnant," he whispers quietly, blinking his eyes back open to Louis. 

Louis freezes for a brief second, opening his mouth like he is about to make a comment, but he ends up thinking otherwise. He shakes his head instead and turns back towards the counter, slamming the picture on top before he's walking over to grab his keys off the key rack. 

"Where are you going?" Harry calls out, leaping forward to reach out for Louis, but Louis is fast on his feet and quickly storms out the front door, nearly slamming it in Harry's face on his way out. 

//

So, Harry waited that night for Louis to take the fresh air that Harry thought he needed, but Louis never returned, and Harry is now, officially, not okay. 

Harry had sat on the couch _for hours_ just expecting Louis to walk back through the front door so they can actually talk to one another, but the moment never came. Louis never walked in. He never came home, and he never messaged Harry. It's been _days_ since Louis found the ultrasound picture, and the two of them haven't even talked or seen each other since the incident happened. Everything occurred so quickly and rashly, and Harry hates that right when he started to get the confidence to finally tell Louis, everything got ruined. If Harry would have just put the picture back in his bag, then Louis never would have found it. It's such a fucking mess, and Harry is miserable, and he knows he shouldn't be putting himself under all this stress with his pregnancy, but he can't help it. Harry is worried about Louis and his relationship with Louis. 

"H," a voice says from behind where Harry is sitting on the couch, making him jolt at the suddenness of it. Harry blinks and turns his body a little, seeing Gemma with an apologetic smile on her face and a cup of tea in her hand. "You need to drink some," she advises softly, rounding the couch to take a seat next to him. 

Harry crosses his arms over his chest and slouches against the cushions. "I don't want to," he mumbles, wincing at the slight pain he feels jabbing at his pelvis. Harry groans and presses his hand there.

"Harry," Gemma warns, pushing the tea in his direction and nearly forcing Harry to grab it. "You need to eat and drink. It's not healthy for you to avoid all of this." 

Harry wipes underneath his eyes. "I'm fine, Gemma. I'm not hungry." Harry tries ignore the way his stomach begins to throb a little. He's not sure what it is, but it started the morning after Louis had walked out on him, and ever since then, other weird things had been happening as well. Harry's been feeling more tired and nauseous. His cramping is more painful than normal, and his spotting has returned. 

"Louis is an ass for just leaving you like this, but come on, H, you know he'll come back. You know that he'll talk to you about this. He probably just needs a _fat_ minute to actually process everything." 

Harry shakes his head as he goes to cover his face. "He just left me, Gemma. He left." 

Gemma frowns as she scoots closer to wrap an arm around Harry's shoulder, bringing him in against her body so she can comfort him with a hug. 

"Hey, Gemma," Chance is soon calling out, walking down the stairs from where he had been getting ready in the guest room. "The ring shop called and said our order is ready for pick up." 

Harry coughs and slowly pulls his head away from Gemma, slightly turning and eyeballing where Chance is walking over to the couch. "The ring shop?" he questions weakly. 

"Our bands our ready?" Gemma nearly squeals, jolting off the couch excitedly. 

Harry frowns and jerks his head in her direction as Chance speaks up. "Yeah, Louis and I went a couple weeks ago," he explains, raising his eyebrows when Harry deflates a little. "The day me and Gems came in to town. Gemma went out to look for you, and I distracted Louis by asking him to help me pick out our wedding bands." 

"He was helping you?" Harry questions under his breath. Chance nods, and Harry groans in annoyance. "Right, of course he wouldn't ring shop for me," he mumbles pitifully, shaking his head as he glances down at his empty left hand. "He's never going to now." 

There's an awkward silence that settles while Gemma and Chance stand behind the couch looking at one another. Harry remains quiet and pouty as he sits on the couch day dreaming about the ring that Louis supposedly never went and got. Sometimes, Harry hates how famous Louis is because the media seems to always track his every move, even if they have it wrong or right. Apparently, this time, they were wrong, _super_ wrong. The article Niall had sent Harry that day was talking about Louis possibly ring shopping for Harry, but Harry never stopped to consider that Louis was just a tag along while Chance ring shopped for Gemma. Harry feels embarrassed for ever getting excited and getting his hopes up for ever thinking Louis is ready to be engaged. 

"Alright, H," Gemma eventually says in the silence, placing her hand on Harry's shoulder. "We have to head out."

Harry nods his head, but doesn't look up from where he's looking at his lap. 

He waits until Gemma and Chance leave the flat before he finally breaks down. He doesn't hesitate to let the tears stream down his face and letting out pitiful sobs to the sky. He doesn't know why he feels so emotional or why he's crying so hard, but he is just in so much pain right now that crying seems to be the only thing that makes him feel better. Harry hasn't been getting enough sleep nor eating enough food because all he's been doing is crying and feeling miserable. He doesn't know where Louis is. He doesn't know where Louis' head is at, and he just doesn't know anything right now. All he knows is that Louis is not with Liam or Zayn, nor is he at home with his family so really, Louis is missing, and this adds even more stress to Harry. 

After Harry feels like he got all his tears out, he gets up from the couch. He has to do so slowly because there is a dull pain in his side, but he does manage to stand on his feet with some assistance of his hand going to the back of the couch. Harry groans a little when his head spins at the change from sitting to standing, but once the world goes right in his vision, he walks over to the kitchen to make himself a glass of water. He knows Gemma has a point that he needs to eat or drink something. He can already feel it taking a toll on his body with the way he's feeling, but he just hasn't had the energy to actually get himself to swallow down food or make any food. It doesn't help that he's still nauseous and worried about Louis. 

As Harry goes to fill a glass with water, he hears the key click in the doorknob, and then the front door is being pushed open. Harry nearly drops his glass when he quickly turns his body to see Louis slowly walking in, looking equally as tired and miserable as Harry knows he probably looks. 

"Louis?" Harry questions, now suddenly feeling all the sadness and tears turning into anger and rage. He slams the glass on top of the counter and turns to face Louis, eyes set in a hard glare when he catches Louis' eyes. "Where the bloody hell have you been? I've been so fucking worried."

Louis closes the door behind him and runs his ringers through his fringe, genuinely looking exhausted. "Look, Harry, I don't - "

"What, Louis, What?" Harry interrupts, eyes going slightly bleary. "You don't want to talk about it? You don't want to fight? What don't you want Louis?" He questions rhetorically. "Well, get over it because that is exactly what's going to happen. You've been gone for days, Louis, _days._ You never called. You never texted. You just fucking left me here alone with nothing, what did you expect was going to happen when you finally came back?"

Louis lifts an eyebrow and walks into the kitchen as well, leaning against the side of the counter. "Harry, don't put this shit on me. You knew you were pregnant and didn't think to fucking tell me. I saw the date on the picture Harry, that was nearly two weeks ago - _two weeks -_ and you never once told me about it. I had to find out because you left the fucking picture out. Were you ever going to tell me or were you just planning on hiding this until a bloody baby popped out of nowhere?"

Harry opens his mouth ready to make his side of the argument, but his words die out when a high pitched whine comes out instead. The pain he's been feeling in his belly ends up shooting more across his body, and the sudden jolt of it is enough to startle Harry, causing him abruptly wince and nearly collapse on the floor. Harry is lucky he is quick to grip the side of the counter from actually going down, but upon seeing the strange and sudden pain Harry is feeling, Louis is quickly rushing in front of him. 

"Harry, baby, are you okay? What's going on?" He questions worriedly, hands going to Harry's hips to help straighten him up. 

Harry closes his eyes and whines some more, arms going around his belly as the pain becomes more persistent. "I don't know, but it hurts, Louis." 

Harry's knees finally give out from the pain, and he begins to fall to the floor, but since Louis is right there, he is quick to catching him in his arms. "Baby, I don't know what to do. Should we go to the doctor? Is the baby okay?"

"Don't ask me that," Harry nearly growls, weakly slapping at Louis' chest. He tries to move out of Louis' arms, but the second he does, he feels the entire room spin. 

Louis doesn't think twice about lifting Harry in his arms and quickly getting them out the flat, nearly rushing them to the elevators. Louis is fast in getting the both of them in the car and driving them to the doctor that Harry tells him he went to for his first appointment. He manages to call the office on the drive over to let them know that Harry is experiencing some unusual and strange pain, and luckily, by the time Louis pulls into the parking lot of the doctors office, Harry has calmed down a little bit. Harry's pain has subsided enough to where he can walk out the car himself and make it into the lobby to check in. The pain and the cramps are still there, but Harry can easily manage and hide from outwardly screaming or whining by tightening his fist as hard as he can so he can focus more on the pain of his nails digging into the palm of his hand rather than the pain in his stomach. Louis ends up sitting in the chair next to Harry while they wait and anxiously bounces his leg, continuously looking at the door and then back at Harry, expecting someone to come out any minute to call their name. 

Finally, a nurse walks out. 

"Harry Styles."

Louis breathes out in relief when the two of them finally walk back into the room. The nurse takes all of Harry's vitals, does his blood pressure twice, and then walks out the room with a promise of the doctor coming in shortly. Harry sighs as he relaxes back on the exam table while the waves of cramps keep passing through him. Louis remains at his side and continues to anxiously wait and pace and glance every where until the doctor is finally walking in with her assistant following behind. Louis is able to calm down only a little bit at their approach. 

"Harry, I'm glad you're back," Dr. Walls greets, eyes falling on Louis as a smile settles on her face. "You must be the other dad?" She wonders. 

Louis relaxes enough to where he can offer her his hand in greeting. "Yes, hi, I'm Louis."

Dr. Walls shakes his hand and then turns back to Harry, taking a seat on her rolling chair. "Well, I _am_ glad you are here today. It's been over two weeks since I last saw you, and I wanted to follow up to see how we are doing with the news of being pregnant, but it looks like we are in today because you're having some pain?"

"He was in a lot of pain," Louis quickly speaks up, not even giving Harry the chance to answer the question even though he's the one who's supposed to be seeing the doctor. "I mean, he was grabbing his sides, he was whining and crying. He got super pale, and he nearly passed out. He collapsed in my arms, and I didn't know what else to do other than to bring him here." 

Harry rolls his eyes at Louis before looking at Dr. Walls.

"What kind of pain was it?" Dr. Walls asks next, this time looking directly at Harry. 

"It was sharp and shooting," Harry answers this time, shyly. "It started in my pelvic area and then spread all around my belly."

Dr. Walls jots some notes down. "Anything in the lower back?"

"No, just my stomach," Harry responds. "I'm still nauseous, and my chest hurts, but my stomach pain is a lot."

"What about the bleeding?" She questions. 

Harry's cheeks turn slightly red as he nods, hating that he's currently wearing a pad in his boxers so he didn't bleed through them again. 

"What does this mean?" Louis quickly cuts in, sounding worried and frantic. "Are they okay?"

"I mean the pain and spotting is definitely common signs of pregnancy, but of course, this is also something we always closely monitor," Dr. Walls begins to explain. "If it's just abdominal pain, and it's just spotting, then there's nothing to worry about as of now. As long as Harry hasn't been bleeding a heavy flow or passed any tissue ... " Dr. Walls glances at Harry to see is answer. He shakes his head no. "Then sometimes our bodies will react when we are not doing something it likes. These pain and crampy feelings can be from dehydration or malnutrition or not enough sleep, but I would like to go ahead and do an ultrasound just so we can check the size of the baby and make sure baby is growing appropriately to its gestational age." Dr. Walls turns back to Harry. "Have we been eating and drinking properly?"

Harry frowns. "It's been hard," he admits truthfully. "I don't think I've been getting enough."

"We just gotta make sure we're doing what we can to eat and drink enough so you and baby have the proper nutrition. The first semester is all about survival mode, and it's the highest risk of experiencing a miscarriage. If we can help lower the risk by having doing anything we can to be healthy, then let's do it." 

Harry sighs and agrees with a nod. "I know, I'll be better."

Dr. Walls smiles as she gets up from her chair. "Alright, lets do a scan then." She heads over to the ultrasound machine that is pushed against the wall and moves it next to the exam table. Her assistant goes to turn the lights off while the doctor gets everything set up before placing the gel on Harry's belly. Harry lets out a heavy breath as Dr. Walls begins spreading the gel around his stomach with the doppler. He anxiously looks down at his belly and then up at the screen just waiting to see something. Harry can feel Louis moving in closer to him until his hip is pressing against Harry's elbow, and right when Dr. Walls begins the ultrasound exam, there is an image that immediately pops up on the screen, one that shows their tiny little baby scrunched up in a ball. Louis gasps upon seeing the screen. 

"There they are," Dr. Walls hums, a slight smile on her face as she begins using the mouse on the machine to draw lines of the length of the baby. "Looks like we are measuring nine and six so you're about to be ten weeks." They see the baby on the screen start to wiggle a little, and Louis lets out a small, breathless laugh. "Baby is trying to wiggle away from the doppler," Dr. Walls says with a smile. 

"Can Harry feel that?" Louis questions in wonder. 

The doctor shakes her head. "Not right now," she responds, then click some more buttons before a low, thumping beat begins to surface in the room. 

Harry's eyes widen as the thump gets louder. "Is that ... ?" He asks quickly, arching his head off the table to look at the heart beat rapidly going across the screen. Immediately, Harry's hand seeks out Louis', and he gives him a tight squeeze when the heart beat continues in a quick and smooth rhythm. 

"Heart rate is 150s" Dr. Walls says, pausing the lines of the baby's heart beat on the screen so she can capture another image for them. "Harry, the baby looks perfectly fine. We hear a good heart beat, and we're measuring like we're supposed to." Harry is able to let out a breath of relief, still squeezing Louis' hand tightly. 

Louis leans his body a little bit over Harry's to get a better look at the monitor. "Is that the baby's head?" he asks as he points to what he's referring to. 

"Correct. Baby is about 1.45 inches long." 

Louis hums. "That's kind of big, yeah?" 

"Well, the head does take up the majority of the body at this gestational age," Dr. Walls explains with a smile, taking one last picture before she's setting the doppler down and grabbing a napkin to wipe off Harry's belly. "But, everything about baby is normal. You did the right thing Louis by bringing Harry here." 

Louis' lips slightly curve up, and he glances down at Harry to take a look at his face, but as the two of them make quick eye contact with one another, Harry is reminded why they even had to show up here in the first place. Harry quickly rips his hand free from Louis and turns away to not look at him, sitting up on the exam bed and now going back to being cold and mad at Louis. 

"Okay, so we need to talk about the rest of the pregnancy," Dr. Walls then states. She pushes the ultra sound machine away from the exam table and goes back to her rolling chair, waiting until her assistant turns the light on before she's handing over the pictures to Harry. "This pregnancy is considered high risk for complications so it's very important that you take proper care of yourself Harry. We need to limit any stress factors as best as we can. Our blood pressure was super high today, and we need to make sure we keep it in the 120 over 80 range." Harry nods his head in understanding and shamefully looks down at his lap to avoid the doctor's inquiring eyes. "I do advise prenatal vitamins and maybe joining some sort of support group. The more support you have, the easier it is to manage."

"I'm not joining a support group," Louis quickly declines. "People are already so in our business that the last thing I want is to give more people an excuse to blatantly stare and judge Harry. I'm not about it." 

Harry blinks and feels a faint smile press his lips. 

"It would be a private one exclusively with others who have dealt with male pregnancies."

Harry purses his lips. "I have my therapist," Harry suggests. "I think I wouldn't mind seeing him about this. He's helped me a lot, and I'd feel more comfortable if we went there instead."

"That's perfect, Harry."

Harry finishes up his appointment by running some more standard blood test that the office requires of their pregnant patients. Once he and Louis are done and head back to the car, Harry goes back to being silent and blatantly doing his best to ignore Louis' presence. He spends the entire car ride turned towards the door and staring out the window, refusing to even acknowledge Louis at all. The car ride is eerily silent, and there's a thick tension between both the boys that continues to grow and grow until Louis is finally parking his car in the garage. Harry doesn't even wait for Louis as he hops out the car and practically storms to the elevator, nearly making it in the clear of riding up to their floor alone had it not been for Louis practically running after him. Harry rolls his eyes and keeps himself on the other side of the elevator, anxiously watching the number of floors tick by until they make it on there's. The second the elevator doors open, Harry storms out again. 

"Harry, come on," Louis whines, following Harry down the hallway and into the flat once Harry opens the front door. "Are you going to keep acting like this all day?" he questions when they get inside, Harry having stopped at the couch so he can turn around with a scowl on his face. 

"How am I acting, Louis?" Harry sasses. 

Louis scoffs. "You won't fucking talk or look at me. It's like you're giving me the bloody cold shoulder." 

"Well, you're not someone I'm too fond of at the moment." Harry turns so he can go sit on the couch. Louis follows with a huff, walking over so he can stand in front of Harry. 

"I get it, okay? I fucked up. I fucked up big time." 

Harry lifts an eyebrow and slouches against the cushion. "At least you're not too daft to admit that." 

Louis huffs. "Fucks sake, Harry. I know I'm an idiot for just leaving you like that, but can't we start over and talk about everything? I hate fighting with you, and I hate you being so upset." 

"I'm upset because of you," Harry snaps, suddenly feeling tears in his eyes. "I mean, I get that you don't want to have this child with me, but did you have to make it so rudely obvious? I know I'm a weird boy that can get pregnant, but I didn't think that having a family together was that far fetched." 

Louis furrows his eyebrows together and quickly rushes forward to get in Harry's space, cupping the sides of his face and wiping away the tears that are starting to spill over. "Where the heck did you get that?" Louis questions worriedly. "Darling, I never once said I didn't want to have this baby with you or never have a family with you. I think about it all the time."

Harry hates that his eyes burn so much from holding back all these tears, but the pregnancy hormones are making him want to both burst right into tears and beg to be held. Harry ignores the latter and just lets himself cry, jerking his face out of Louis' hold because as much as he wants Louis' touch on him, he also doesn't. He's mad at Louis, and Harry doesn't want Louis to just think things are okay because he's back home. 

"Then why did you leave me after finding out?" Harry whimpers, a pout on his lips as he wipes away his own tears. 

Louis lets out a slightly manic laugh. "Harry, how was I supposed to react?" he questions rhetorically, taking a step back. "Out of no where, I see a fucking ultra sound picture of my boyfriend, who I never expected to _ever_ get pregnant, that shows he's been pregnant _for weeks._ You didn't even tell me. I had to find out through the picture. It's kind of a lot at once to know that one, I'm going to be a dad, and two, that my boyfriend is pregnant, and three, that my boyfriend has the ability to get pregnant in the first place. It was overwhelming, and I was freaking out, and you knew this whole time without telling me."

"You know what sucks about this?" Harry asks, biting his lip and glancing down at his lap, a tear rolling down his cheek that ends up falling off his chin and landing on his wrist. "I was finally able to accept the fact that I was pregnant. Ever since I found out, I was so nervous and scared. I didn't know what I was going to do or if I even should go through with this pregnancy. It took me that long to finally be okay with having a baby, and I finally felt strong enough to tell you. I was excited to tell you. I was excited to finally start enjoying the whole pregnancy journey with you by my side, but as overwhelming and freak out as you were in finding out about everything, I was even more overwhelmed and freaked out." Harry glances up at Louis. "Louis, I'm a boy. Boy's aren't supposed to get pregnant. How do you think I felt when I found out? How do you think I felt knowing I had to _tell_ people? That I had to tell _you_? I was fucking terrified. I am terrified because no matter what happens, everyone is going to be looking at _me_ or talking about _me_. I'll forever be known as the boy who got pregnant. No one will look or talk about you so as hard as it was for you to be abruptly told about my condition, it was even harder for me to accept it." 

Louis lets out a deep sigh and goes to sit on the couch. "Harry," he breathes out. 

"And it's not like I can hate you or blame you for anything," Harry continues, swallowing down a big lump in his throat. "You didn't know I could get pregnant. I didn't know I could get pregnant, and I'm just ... I'm so scared, Louis." Harry closes his eyes and covers his face with his hands. "This is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, and when you walked away after finding out, I just thought you didn't want me anyone. I thought you didn't want any of this. I didn't want to be someone you were force to be tied to just because I'm having your baby. I do love you, Louis. I love you more than anything, and baby or no baby, I'll always want to be with you because of how you make me feel. I just, I don't want you to _now_ feel like you have to be with me because of this."

Louis frowns and reaches over to grab Harry's hands, resting them in his lap. "Harry, that's not what I am doing at all," he reassures right away. "I'm not here with you because I feel like I have to. I'm here because I love you - because when I look five - ten - twenty years from now, I see you by my side, whether we have children or not, I'm always going to want to be with you because of how much I'm in love with you. Having this child isn't something that's tying me down to you. It's just a beautiful miracle for us. We're having a baby, _and_ I'm in love with you. That's just the story we are going to have with us for the rest of our lives."

Well, it's not exactly a proposal, but it damn sure sounds like Louis is promising a forever for the two of them, and that's good enough for Harry to calm down. All this time Harry has been waiting for the question and the ring, but he never actually had the conversation with Louis about the future they are going to have together. There are always going to be doubts in Harry's mind, and now that he is pregnant, he hates thinking that the only reason now that Louis would propose is because he's having Louis' baby, but it's also nice and comforting to know that Louis has always saw a forever for them. Louis intends on spending the rest of his life with Harry, children or no children, and he just blatantly stated that right there in front of Harry so although Harry is eagerly waiting for that proposal, he thinks this strong affirmation is good enough to at least settle his obsession of being properly engaged. 

"So, again," Louis says after moment of sitting in silence, squeezing Harry's hand to draw his attention back to him. "I'm really sorry for leaving you like that. I should have considered how you were feeling about all of this, but I didn't. I told you that I do stupid things when I'm in love, and _well,_ I'm in love, and I'm stupid." Louis smiles when there's a small breathy chuckle that comes from Harry. "I really am sorry Harry. Can you please forgive me and finally kiss me? 

Harry rolls his eyes and leans forward, snuggling his head against Louis' neck. "You really hurt me," he says under his breath, tilting his head up and puckering his lips. Louis smiles and quickly goes to kiss him. "But I love you, too." 

"You know I'll do whatever I can to make up for it." 

"Can that start with a back rub?" Harry questions cheekily, biting his lip when Louis lifts an eyebrow. "Because I'm exhausted, and this baby in my belly is already hurting my." 

"Sure, darling. Anything for you."

**//**

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **HarryStyles:** Cuddles x

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** Little spoon


	37. Chapter 37

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**LouisTomlinson:** Grape juice craving. 

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 **NiallHoran commented:** That's nasty mate. 

//

"So, how do we feel about being pregnant?" 

Harry purses his lips for a moment and really lets himself think about the question. 

At first, Harry probably would have answered it's possibly the worst thing that could ever happen to him. He would call himself a freak and try to avoid the whole situation by _taking_ care of everything so that no body would ever know he could get pregnant. But, after a while, going on fourteen weeks of being pregnant, now about to hit his second trimester, Harry feels quite the opposite. A lot of his new found view point came from Ellie and Gemma. They really hit close to home when they said everything would change the second Harry heard their baby's heart beat for the first time, and it's true because after Harry heard the rapid beat of his baby's heart, he knew there was no way he could ever give up this pregnancy. Harry knew he's always had a baby in his belly, but hearing the baby's life with the sound of their heart beat made it official for him. It made it real. There is an alive human growing inside of him, and he's the one that gets to properly take care of them. Harry has come such a long way since he first found out he was pregnant to where he is now. He loves being pregnant. He loves that his and Louis' child is resting right there in his belly, and he's looking forward to the day where he can finally hold their baby and see how much of Louis resembles in their child. 

That being said, Harry still hasn't made a grand announcement to anyone. At most, Gemma, Chance, Louis, Ellie and Niall are the only people who know. The world doesn't know yet. His mother doesn't know yet. Louis' mother doesn't know yet, and Harry is dreading the day he has to actually make it known to more than five people that he's carrying a child. He's been able to accept and cope everything easily since he started seeing Dr. Barnes again, and he's more than happy he has Louis right there next to him at each session. They do a lot of therapy where Harry and Louis talk about the pregnancy and how they intend on handling different situations. It's not entirely the support group that Dr. Walls had intended, but it's good enough for Harry to feel comfortable in his own skin. Dr. Barnes has even gone above and beyond to help Harry with some relaxation techniques and some preparation skills for when the baby actually is here. It's almost like Harry and Louis have their own exclusive parenting class, but the benefit of it is that it's Harry's therapist, and the two of them are very comfortable with what he provides during their sessions. Harry's already learned much more with Dr. Barnes than he probably would have if he went somewhere else. 

"I feel good," Harry finally responds, glancing at Louis when he places a hand on his thigh. Harry briefly smiles at him before he's looking at Dr. Barnes again. "I'm not like - I don't feel as nervous and scared as I used to be. I think I'm at the point where I can maybe start telling more people about me being pregnant." 

Louis squeezes Harry's thigh for comfort. 

"Have you two been doing some of the breathing routines at home?" Dr. Barnes then wonders, flickering his eyes between Harry and Louis. 

"I have," Harry answers proudly, soon frowning as he nudges Louis' side with his elbow. "Louis refuses." 

Dr. Barnes tilts his head. "How come? These breathing exercises can actually be quite useful with your anger management. It's good to do these things together."

"I feel silly," Louis admits truthfully, shrugging his shoulders in response. 

"I think we should do one right now," Harry suggests, a small smile tilted to his lips. "I think it might make me feel better knowing Louis has better control on his anger if we actually practice the things that can calm him down. He hasn't lost his temper in a long time, but you know, once we go public with this, I'm kind of scared that something might be triggering." 

Louis turns his head to Harry, eyebrows raised. "You worry about that?" he questions slightly surprised, a little hurt. 

"I mean ... " Harry pauses to shrug, blinking his eyes away. "I know some things can make you lash out, even if you're on the pills, and if I'm not able to stop you for any reason, I want you to be able to find your own way of calming down."

"Let's do that then," Dr. Barnes interrupts, having set his pen and pad down on the end table next to his chair. He unfolds his legs and scoots to the end of his seat. "I want you two to grab each other's hands." Dr. Barnes waits as Harry and Louis seek each other out. "Now, close your eyes." The two do as told. "Now on a three count, breath in slowly. Hold for a second, and then let out your breath with a sound." 

Louis cracks an eye open. "Pardon me?" 

"Louis," Harry scolds, slapping Louis' chest. 

"Okay, okay. Count to three."

Louis squeezes Harry's hands and closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath on the three count that Dr. Barnes says. He feels all the air build up inside his lungs as he holds his breath for a second, and right as he goes to release the air, he hears a loud " _Ahhh_ " sound coming from Harry. Louis opens his eyes with a frown, watching Harry do another intake of breath for three seconds before he's " _Ahhh-ing_ " out his exhale. 

Louis snorts. 

"Why are you laughing?" Harry pouts as he opens his eyes, eyebrows furrowing together when he sees that Louis is not doing the exercise. 

"You're exhaling loudly," Louis says. 

"It feels good." 

Louis rolls his eyes. 

"I think we are done for the day," Dr. Barnes then interrupts. "Our goal going in to the next week is working on these breathing exercises, not only for you Louis, but for Harry as well. We want him to limit any factors of stress as best as we can, and if you working on these little things can help manage that, then I think you should really consider. If we want to get through this pregnancy without any complications, we all have to be on board together." 

Louis frowns. "I know." 

"Alright, we'll work on stressed related situations next time." 

Louis thanks the heaven and the stars that he can finally leave this therapy session. He knows it's really good for the both of them to attend together, but sometimes, Louis is just not in the mood for it. The main point of going is for Harry, and Louis is only there because it makes Harry happy and calm so of course he would never miss an appointment. With that being said, it doesn't mean he's entirely too fond of everything they go over. Sure, Louis likes when they talk about things because it helps him get clearer understanding on certain situations, but when it comes to these breathing exercises and techniques that Dr. Barnes is _prescribing_ for Harry to do at home, it just goes right over Louis' head. He's tried the breathing. He's tried the techniques. None of it really helped when it came to managing his anger so he knows there's no point in wasting his time. As much as he understands where Harry is coming from about Louis finding some sort of alternative way to calm down besides the medicine he takes and being around Harry, Louis just really doesn't think there is anything else. Most of the time, he can't even control his own anger or how he responds to it, that's why he was originally surprised when he realized how quickly his body subconsciously relaxed when it came to being around Harry. Louis had no control over it. 

Louis reaches for Harry's hand and helps him off the sofa. They both say goodbye to Dr. Barnes and then head out the office so they can drive back to the flat. As Louis goes to open the front door, Harry steps out and suddenly stops. 

"Louis," he gasps, eyes wide in wonder. 

Louis steps through the door and lifts an eyebrow. "What is it?" 

"Look there," Harry advises, pointing down at the ground. 

Louis slowly moves his eyes to where Harry is pointing, still unsure of what exactly Harry is so excited about. "Babe, I'm not sure what we're looking at."

"There's an ant trail," Harry says with a giggle, eyes widening some more when he sees something else. "Oh, Louis, that one has a bread crumb. Thats so cool."

Louis' heart about triples in size when Harry excitedly reaches over to grab his arm before bright, green eyes are turning to look into his own. Louis smiles and reaches to cup Harry's face. "I hope our baby has your eyes," he blurts out. 

Harry's face softens immediately. "I vote blue eyes," he stubbornly responds, leaning in to kiss Louis' lips. "Can we go eat now?"

"Sure, darling." Louis rolls his eyes and grabs Harry's hand again, leading the two of them towards the car. 

Louis ends up driving down the road to a local diner that's right around the corner from their flat. The two get inside without drawing too much attention to themselves and take a seat in the back. Harry's getting to the point in his pregnancy where an over sized shirt is no longer hiding his bump completely. He's gotten past the small pudge and bloating phase, and now he actually has a small, rounded belly that can evidently be known as a pregnant belly. For now, the sweater he is wearing is doing fine in covering up the growth he has developed, but it's quite obvious that he no longer has a flat stomach anymore. Harry's biggest worry about going in public was that people would start taking pictures of him and commenting on his weight change. He knows he's gotten rounder around the hips, and obviously, he has a stomach now. Harry isn't sure if people would guess that he's pregnant or just getting fat, and at this point, he isn't entirely sure which one he prefers the media to be choosing. 

"You know where we play this weekend?" Louis asks once the two of them get settled at their table. 

Harry looks up from the menu with a frown. "No, I don't."

"We're playing Liverpool."

Harry brightens up instantly. "Are you serious?" he questions happily. "Oh, wow. That means I'll get to see Alexi. I feel like it's been forever since I saw her." 

"You get to see Jaxson, too," Louis reminds with a wink. "Maybe you can one up her this time and let her know you're having your own Jaxson coming soon." 

Harry rolls his eyes. "I think we need to tell our moms before we even consider telling anyone else. I'm already dreading that conversation." 

"Me, too, babe." Louis gets up from his seat and walks over to kiss the top of Harry's head. "Be right back. I need to wee."

Harry smiles as he watches Louis walk off to the bathroom until he's sitting at the table alone. He mindlessly looks around the restaurant to admire all the people that are in today. The place is fairly remote, and at most, there's about five other tables that are occupied so it's not entirely too busy today. Harry's eyes land upon a table where a mother is having lunch with her toddler, their chairs pulled next to one another while she goes through the hassle of feeding her child. Harry finds himself smiling as he discreetly watches them, knowing that one day he'll get to do the same thing with his own child, and it gets him even more excited for that fact that he's pregnant. 

"Harry Styles?" Someone then suddenly asks, and at the sound of this eerily familiar voice, Harry feels his body tensing up. "I can't believe it's you," the voice continues, walking right into Harry's line of view before he's approaching the table. 

Harry bites his lip, trying not to show off too much of his nerves. "Tanner," Harry greets in response, arms securely wrapping around his stomach as his own subconscious way of protecting his unborn child from this bastard standing in front of him. 

"Long time no see, eh?" Tanner questions with a smirk, eyes trailing down until they are on Harry's belly. Tanner lifts an eyebrow. "Put on a few pounds, have we?"

Harry frowns as he glances down at himself. He knew he was beginning his second trimester, and he knew that he was slowly forming a belly, but he really didn't think it was _that_ noticeable to where at first glance it looks like he's gained weight. He though the loose clothing had been enough to hide his new growing belly, but now Harry supposes he's at the point where his belly being noticed is inevitable. However, Harry still doesn't appreciate Tanner indirectly calling him fat. 

"You look like you chubbed up a bit." 

Harry lets out a shaky breath and covers his stomach more with his arms. "What are you doing here?" Harry questions nervously, eyes glancing past Tanner towards the restroom, hoping that Louis pops out any second. When he doesn't, Harry regretfully looks back at Tanner. "Louis won't be too fond if he sees you here."

"It's quite pathetic that you still need Louis by your side to get anything done," Tanner grunts, rolling his eyes as he abruptly takes a seat in Louis' chair. He scoots himself closer to Harry and places a hand on top of his thigh, smirking when Harry smacks him away. "Quite feisty, I see," He teases, leaning back against the seat. "I'm surprised after all these years Louis wants to keep someone like you around. You must have finally caved and gave him what he wanted after all."

"Tanner, you better - "

Harry gets interrupted when Louis calls out his name. Harry jerks his head in the direction Louis is coming from and instantly relaxes when he sees that Louis is walking up to the table. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Louis nearly growls at Tanner, about ready to step in his space to rip him from the chair, but Harry quickly eases him by lifting an arm up to prevent him from doing any sort of attack. 

"I'm just catching up with him, mate. No harm in that." 

Louis twitches, trying to step past Harry again. "You better fucking leave us alone, _mate_. Last time I check, I owe you a solid punch in the face." 

"Louis," Harry sighs, tilting his head up at Louis and making a face. "It's fine. Just leave it alone." 

Louis gawks. "Leave it alone? How the fuck can I leave it alone when he's bothering you like this?" 

"Just breathe, Louis," Harry advises, giving a look of warning to Louis before he's turning back to Tanner, now realizing that they have caused a little scene in the restaurant and now have eyes at their table. "Tanner, you need to go."

Tanner looks at Harry, then at Louis, and then around the restaurant before finally deciding to push the chair back and leave the two of them alone. He had apparently been on the other side of the restaurant so once he gets back to the table he was originally sitting at, Louis collapses in his seat and scoots as close to Harry as possible, reaching out to hold Harry's hands in his own.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" Louis interrogates right away. 

Harry feels like a fool when sudden tears fill his eyes, but they do, and he ends up laughing as he wipes them away. "No, he didn't do anything," Harry eases. "He just pretty much said I look fat." 

Louis cocks his head. "Baby, you're not fat." 

"Yes, I am. Just look." Harry pouts as he removes his hands to pull the ends of his shirt, glancing at where his stomach is slightly protruding through the material. "My belly," he complains. 

Louis rolls his eyes and reaches out to place a hand on Harry's belly. "Haz, you don't look fat. If anything, it just looks like you had a massive lunch." 

"So sweet," Harry giggles, placing his hands on top of Louis', not really thinking about what he's doing in the moment because all he cares about right now is Louis' eyes on his own and Louis' hands on their baby. "I love you," Harry whispers. 

"I love you, too," Louis responds easily, leaning in to kiss Harry.

//

** Breaking News:  ** **_ Harry and Louis Tomlinson expecting a baby? Rumors afloat, click to see photos.  _ **

** Breaking News:  ** **_ Did Harry Styles admit to being pregnant?. Click to see video!  _ **  
****

**Breaking News:** _**Harry Styles weight gain could possibly be due to pregnancy** _ ****

**Breaking News: _Are Harry and Louis Tomlinson preparing for a baby?_**

**Trending**

**#LarryBaby**

**#TomlinsonBaby**

_@LtUpdates tweeted:_ Louis and Harry were seen at a restaurant where they were strangly holding Harrys belly. DOES THIS MEAN A TOMMO BABY IS ON THE WAY? 

_@Elounor4Ev tweeted:_ Didn't even know a boy could get pregnant . smh . Louis is missing out on Eleanor

 _@TomlinsunLove tweeted:_ Louis almost got into a fight with some guy at the diner. I think it was one of Harry's old flings. 

_@HarryAndLouUpdates tweeted:_ If Harry is pregnant then he's about to be THE CUTEST pregnant person ever. I'm so happy for them. 

**//**

It's bad.

Just a little bad.

Rumors started spreading quickly after the post Louis uploaded on Instagram, and then after, people caught Harry and Louis inside the restaurant touching Harry's belly. It seems like every media outlet is quick to assume that Harry is pregnant. They see the weight change in Harry. They see Harry and Louis constantly going to the doctor's office, and they see the subtle pictures that fans capture of them looking at Harry's stomach. It didn't take long for the people to pick up these small cues and then put and two together. Now, it's spreading fast, and it's becoming harder and harder each day to either ignore or deny the rumors that are being told. Louis constantly gets stopped by the fans or paparazzi about the situation, and he knows he and Harry are at the point where they need to tell their mothers before they tell the world, but ever since people come to the conclusion that Harry is pregnant, it's been harder trying to hide everything. 

So, that's why Harry and Louis are currently on their way over to Anne's house. The night prior, the two boys had called their mother with the brilliant idea of having lunch together. Louis tried to keep everything discreet and not give too much information as to why he wants to have this lunch. He didn't want the mothers to be expecting some sort of announcement and ruin the surprise of Harry's pregnancy. Louis is lucky enough that their family stays off social media as much as possible so there's a really good chance that Jay nor Anne had kept up with the hot gossip circling around him and Harry. It's been a long time coming of Louis and Harry telling their mothers, and since word is traveling around fast, the two boys want to make sure that they get the chance to tell their parents before another source gets the chance to. They know Jay and Anne will not be happy if they learn this from someone else. 

"We can't back out," Harry eventually says in the silence of the car ride, anxiously looking out the window and bouncing his leg in anticipation for whats about to come. He stuffs his hands underneath his thighs and lets out a heavy breath. "What if they already know?" Harry then worries, turning to look at Louis with a frown. 

Louis smiles and reaches over the console to rest his hand on Harry's leg. "Babe, take a breath. I really don't think they know." 

"You think?" Harry lifts an eyebrow. "I hope not because it seems like everyone else knows but them."

Louis laughs under his breath. "Seems like it," he agrees, patting Harry's thigh. "But we are going to tell them today. One hundred percent."

"No backing out." 

Louis rolls his eyes. "I got it, Harry." 

"Because you backed out last time." 

"I did not," Louis argues with a pout. 

Harry scoffs. "Yes, you did. We had it all planned out, and you were about ready to throw up." 

"I didn't want to tell them over the phone," Louis reasons with. He removes his hand from Harry's leg and places it on the wheel when he ends up turning down the street Anne's house is on. He shortly pulls up the driveway and turns the car off once they arrive, shifting in his seat so he can turn and better face Harry. He smiles. "Babe, we can do this. I wanted to tell them in person because I think it'll mean more to them. Plus, it's our mothers. They're not scary. Mums always want grandchildren so I'm sure they will be glad we're giving it to them." 

Harry huffs, slouching, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't think a mum wants to be a grandmother when her child is only twenty."

"Is that how old you are?" Louis hums as he reaches across to pinch Harry's cheeks together. "I think it's fine, love. I'm almost twenty four, not _that_ much older. At least we're in this together and have stable enough jobs to provide for our baby. It could be worse." 

Harry eases up a little, letting out a breath. "You're right," Harry finally settles with. "It does feel like we've been together forever so I suppose a baby was inevitable." 

"Forever," Louis whispers under his breath, blue eyes remaining locked in on Harry's green ones, causing Harry's heart to suddenly jump in his chest. Obviously, Harry's mind instantly goes to marriage. "I like that," he mumbles a second later. 

Harry feels his breath hitch in his throat, and all he can think about is the forever he's going to have with Louis once they get engaged and married. Truthfully, it's all he's been thinking about, and before he can actually think better of it, he ends up blurting out " _propose_." Louis lifts an eyebrow at the outburst, and Harry clears his throat. "Propose we don't chicken out when we tell our mothers so we can all be happy about the news," he quickly recovers, not so smoothly. 

"Harry," Louis laughs, reaching to pinch Harry's cheek. "I didn't chicken out the first time, and I'm not going to chicken out again." 

Harry swallows and goes to unbuckle his seatbelt, heart beating so rapidly in his chest because hit subtleness was _almost_ not subtle. "You say that, but you almost threw up last time." 

"Let's go you pregnant buggar. I'm not going to back out." 

The two of them clamber out the car and meet each other at the hood of the vehicle so they can walk up to the front door hand in hand. Since Harry is now in the second trimester, and his belly has gotten a bit bigger, he really had to make sure that they shirt he wore today didn't give away too much. He knows it's obvious that he's gained some weight, but at most, everything has been around his lower abdomen and around his hips. The sweater Harry chose today hangs off his body so his stomach is barely even seen, and he thinks it's good enough to hide the fact that he's pregnant before he actually gets to tell the mums. Before the two of them knock, Louis quickly reaches down to press his hand against Harry's belly before giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. 

"Let's do this," he whispers, kissing Harry once more and then ringing the door bell. 

Within seconds, Anne is opening the door with a bright smile on her face. 

"Harry - Louis," She greets, looking between the boys. "So excited to have you guys over."

"Is my mum already here?" Louis questions as he follows Anne inside her home. 

Anne tilts her head towards the kitchen. "She's in there, love." 

"I have to go to the loo so I'll be back," Harry quickly says before he is rushing off towards the bathroom down the hall. 

Anne looks after her son with a shake of her head and is then following Louis into the kitchen where Jay is already sitting at the table. Jay perks up when she sees Louis walk in, and she goes to stand up so she can give her son a welcoming hug. "I'm so happy you called us for lunch," she says truthfully, soon pulling back from the hug and going serious within a matter of seconds. "Now, why _did you_ call us for lunch? This is quite unusual." 

"Yeah, not that we don't love to see you boys," Anne quickly adds in, going to take a seat in the empty chair next to Jay while Louis goes to the other. "But you never ask to have lunch here." 

Louis is saved from the inquiring questions when Harry walks back in, a big smile on his face as he catches sight of Jay. "Hi, Jay," he greets, walking his way over to her and wrapping her in a big hug. 

"Hi, darling." She responds when she pulls back from the hug, a slightly suspicious look on her face as she glances between Harry and Louis before taking a seat again. 

Harry gives his mother a kiss and goes to Louis so he can take a seat next to him, ultimately, scooting his chair closer so they are about near in each other's laps. "Oh, you made sandwiches. Sounds delicious. Just what I was wanting." Harry doesn't hesitate to grab a sandwich off the dish at the center of the table. 

Jay lifts an eyebrow. "Right." She clears her throat, bringing her smile back. "Back to why you guys are here."

"Louis wants to get me a puppy," Harry quickly responds, trying to hide his giggle by biting into his sandwich. 

Louis cocks his head back and presses his hand to Harry's back. "I am not," he tells the mothers.

"Then what is it?" Anne eagerly questions. "It's got to be something big."

Louis opens his mouth to begin the long speech he had prepared for the mothers. He knew he had to go about this announcement in a certain way to let the mums know that they understand the type of responsibility they have to prepare for when raising a child and how the two of them intend on doing this together. Louis really properly prepared everything to make light of the fact that they are young, pregnant, and unmarried, but before he can even get the chance to let a word out, Harry is already blurting out the news without any sort of warning.

"I'm pregnant," is what Harry says, holding the sandwich mid air as he looks between Jay, Anne, and Louis with bright, green eyes. Louis lets out a choked sound, mouth frozen open, and when Harry's eyes fall upon Louis, he covers his mouth with a loud giggle. "Oh, shit. I didn't mean to say that," Harry mutters, chuckling some more. "That wasn't the plan at all," he then tells the mother's, turning to them with a now growing pout. "We had everything planned and prepared, but I ruined it." Harry sighs, shrugs his shoulders, and goes to lift his sweater. "Here's my belly though. It's growing your grand baby." 

Louis lets out a breath and covers his face. 

"Wow," Jay says with a heavy sigh, perking up in her chair and forming a smile. "That's fantastic. Congrats to you both. I suppose that does call for a celebratory lunch." 

Anne shakes her head and turns to glare at Louis. "Louis!" she scolds, her accusing and loud tone causing Louis to jump in surprise. 

"What?" 

"We talked about no sex, remember?" 

Louis' face turns red, and Harry tilts his head in confusion. "Like ... ever?" Harry mumbles with a pout. 

Louis lets out another breath, and goes to cover his face again. 

"Anne, darling, you really expected them to hold out for the past three years?" Jay questions with a slight laugh, pressing a hand on Anne's shoulder since she looks tense. "It's not that hard to tell what these boys are doing. They live together."

Anne lets out an unsteady breath. "I know, but ... " she pauses, shaking her head. 

"Don't worry about it, love," Jay eases, patting Anne's back a couple times before turning back to the boys. "So, how far along are we? Harry's practically glowing right now." 

Harry blushes as he goes to place a hand on his belly. "A little over fifteen weeks." 

"We actually brought some pictures from Harry's scan last week," Louis perks up. He reaches for his wallet that is inside his pocket and pulls out a couple of pictures, handing them over to their mothers. 

Anne and Jay coo immediately upon seeing the sonogram.

"Oh, wow. Look there," Jay breathes out with a growing smile. "There they are." 

"So beautiful," Anne whispers. 

Harry clears his throat after he lets them look at the picture for a good minute, smiling as he goes to fold his hands on top of the table. "We also have something else we need to tell you guys." Harry turns to glance at Louis and scrunches his nose, happily. 

"What is it?" Anne questions with a frown.

Jay lifts an eyebrow, a small, nervous laugh coming out. "You're not about to tell us he's pregnant too, are you?" 

Louis grimaces. "No, mum."

"No, me and Louis just want you two to be the first ones to find out the sex of the baby." 

Annes' eyes nearly bulge out of her head. "You don't want to know first?" 

"We want a gender reveal," Harry says with a smile. 

"Of course. Of course. We would love to do that," Jay quickly agrees. "Are you guys doing the scan soon?" 

Louis nods, hand reaching out to place on Harry's thigh. "We are. They said they can put it in an envelope and then we can give it to whoever. We thought it would be more special if our mums got the first peak."

"So, what do we want to have then?" Anne quickly questions, wiggling her eyebrows. "I haven't really thought much about being a grandmum. Not sure which team I choose." 

"Boy," Louis says just as Harry says, "Girl."

Harry furrows his eyebrows at Louis' response and turns to look at him, slightly surprised. "You want a boy?" he wonders. 

"I have four younger sisters," Louis reminds with a shrug, glancing at his mother and seeing a warm smile settle across her lips. "I think it would be nice to have a lil boy running around." 

"Darling, having four younger sisters and having your own daughter is not the same," Jay intervenes, laughing. "It's quite different when they are you're actual child."

Louis tilts his head from side to side, contemplating before he lets out a hum. "I've just always wanted a boy if I'm being quite honest. The relationship I had with Mark is one I look forward to having with my son."

Jay's face softens, and Harry laces their fingers together. 

"If anything," Harry then says, smiling at everyone at the table. "I'm just wanting a healthy baby." Then he turns to Louis, leaning in to rub their noses together. "One that has blue eyes." 

Louis rolls those said blue eyes and pulls away. "Green eyes." He argues. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 33,778 likes**

**HarryStyles:** Tied up like two ships. 

//

It's early when Harry and Louis have to drag themselves out of the flat to head towards Stamford Bridge. Chelsea is traveling to Liverpool for the day to have a game later in the afternoon. The bus is supposed to leave in about an hour, and the only reason why Harry actually gets to travel with Louis and be the only player's partner on the bus is because he's using the excuse of taking pictures with Matt, otherwise, he would have to drive up himself. Since getting pregnant, the last thing Harry has wanted is to be away from Louis. Harry isn't sure what it is about him carrying Louis' child, but he's been more clingy than normal. Harry does note that he feels safe and like home when he's around Louis, and since he's still insecure about people knowing he's pregnant then being around Louis kind of makes handling everything a lot better. So if he has to be on his feet for a little bit later today to take some pictures of Chelsea playing, then Harry really doesn't mind. There could be a lot more worse things to do at game rather than doing what he loves. 

By the time Louis is pulling in to the parking lot, some of the other players are already packing the bus. He pulls into an empty spot not too far away and looks over at Harry to see he's fast asleep. Louis' lips curve up as he leans over the console to gently shake Harry. "Hey, baby, wake up," he whispers softly, pressing a kiss to Harry's head. "We're here. Got to get on the bus now." Harry yawns as he blinks his eyes open, a furrow to his brow and a pout on his lips as his eyes get used to now being away. "Let's go, love."

Harry and Louis both get out the car and make their way towards one another. Louis' arm seeks out Harry's body almost immediately and drags him into his side so Harry can lean his weight against Louis. Harry hasn't been getting the best amount of sleep since hitting the second trimester. His cramping and achiness keeps him up most nights, and although the nausea and vomiting have gone away, he's just starting to get to the point where nothing is comfortable for him anymore. Harry spends the majority of the night tossing and turning, getting up to go to the bathroom or having late night cravings. Harry hasn't gotten proper sleep in what seems like forever so Louis knows how tired and exhausted Harry is. 

Harry rests his head on Louis' should and goes to place a hand on his belly as Louis guides them towards the bus. Harry briefly smiles at Matt who is tossing his bags in the storage part of the bus before the two boys are being approached by one of Louis' teammates.

"Hey, guys." It's Ronni. He looks down at Harry's belly, then up at Harry's sleepy face, and then finally glances at Louis. "Not used to the early morning, eh?" He questions with a tilt of his head in Harry's direction. 

Louis shakes his head and pulls Harry in tighter. "Nah, just kind of a long night of being uncomfortable and cramping. Being on this bus probably won't help much either." 

"I'm sorry, mate," Ronni sympathizes, patting Louis' free shoulder. "Were you able to get any sleep? You look pretty exhausted as well." 

Louis shrugs. "I'm alright," he admits, hands running down Harry's side. "I'm just glad we were able to work it out with him coming. You know, with everything that's going on, I feel better if we're together." 

"Yeah, mate, I understand. He travels with us anyways so it makes no difference." 

Louis smiles. "He'll get to take some pictures of us." Louis turns to look at Harry and squeezes his hip. "Probably won't be standing as much though." 

"Yeah," Harry hums. 

Ronni nods his head and turns to finally get on the bus. Louis then pats Harry's hip once before he's letting go and stepping back a little. "Go find us a seat, babe. I need to grab our bags." 

Harry slowly emerges himself on to the bus and looks around for an open seat. Normally Harry sits with Matt on the road because he isn't too fond of interfering with Louis and his teammates and whatever his pre-game routine is, but today, he could careless. Harry wants to sit next to Louis, and he wants to be cuddled the entire ride over. He does feel bad that all these other guys don't ever get the chance to have their partners ride with them, especially whenever their partners were pregnant, so Harry has always tried to remain low-key about being one of the only ones who gets to travel by always staying near Matt. He'll every so often interact with Louis and sit with him and maybe give him some kisses, but Harry never liked to flaunt anything in front of the other lads. However, he's pregnant, he's also a boy that's pregnant so he thinks there can be a massive exception to him bending the rules and sitting next to his boyfriend. 

Harry seeks out Liam in the back of the bus when he waves his hand over. Harry smiles as he approaches him and takes the two open seats next to him. "Hey, mate," Liam greets, eyes soon widening. "You look dead. No sleep last night?"

Harry frowns and shakes his head. "Not any," he complains, already reclining the seat back so he can get his legs in the air. "I feel like I can pass out any second now." Harry doesn't even hesitate to close his eyes. 

A few minutes go by, and then Louis is finally walking his way on to the bus. He briefly looks around to see if he spots Harry, but his eyes are falling on Liam the quickest who is pointing to the seat next to the one he's sitting in. Louis angles his head and can make out Harry's slumped body in the reclined seat and smiles when he sees that Harry is already fast asleep. He carefully makes his way to the back and is then crawling over Harry so he can take the window seat. Once he's settled, he pulls Harry against his body. 

"I could've moved myself," Harry mumbles, one eye opening as he rest his head against Louis' chest. 

It doesn't take long for the bus to start moving, the lights turning off, and being on their way to Liverpool. 

"It's okay, darling," Louis whispers, pressing a kiss to Harry's forehead before he's wrapping his arm around Harry's waist and pressing a hand to his belly. "Get some rest. We have a long day later." 

And a long day it is. 

//

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**HarryStyles:** Food belly or pregnant belly? 

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** sexy belly

**LottieTommo replied:** Dont be weird 

**JayTomlinson commented:** Congrats boys

**GemmaStyles commented:** Woohoo!! Cant wait to be an auntie 

**AnneTwist commented:** Love my boys. Congrats. 

//

Harry knows posting the picture right before the game probably wasn't the best idea considering Louis will be bombarded afterwards with a million and one questions from the press, but _he had_ to. The picture is so cute, and they never made a formal announcement about his pregnancy so he figured it was as best as any to just go for it. He hasn't gone online since he uploaded the picture, too scared to see what the reactions are and what people are saying. Harry's hoping that Louis can just address it once after the game when he's on camera and then that be it. Of course, all of it is easier said than done. 

Chelsea and Liverpool are still tied as they head into the second half. It's been a close game nearly the entire time, and it's been a back and forth match of who gains possession of the ball. Zayn, Gigi, Niall and Ellie had driven up together so they could keep company with Harry as he went back into the stands for the second half. He had taken pictures of the first half because he knew that was probably all he could handle, and by the time the teams were heading into the locker room to take their half time break, Harry was finally ready to get off his feet and join his friends in the stands. Now that Harry gets the chance to actually watch Louis instead of going back and forth of taking pictures of the entire team, he can enjoy his friends cheering loudly anytime Louis gets the ball or anytime Liam makes an excellent block from a goal attempt. The seconds are ticking down with the score still tied 1-1. There's a moment when Harry, along with the rest of Chelsea's fans, believe that this will be going in to over time, but before that ever happens, Louis ends up gaining possession of the ball again, this time so smoothly that it has everyone on their side cheering loudly. 

Louis steals the ball from Wes, Alexi's husband, and quickly guides it down the pitch until he's cutting in close to the goal. He sees that Stan is wide open, swerving his way through the opponents, and quickly kicks it over to him. Louis continues to run down the pitch until he's finding an opening to receive the ball from Leevi, who had gotten the ball from Stan, and this mix up ends up confusing the goalie so as Louis gets the ball kicked over to him, he sees his wide opening to the right of the goalie and quickly makes a shot in kicking it there. The goalie has to dive in order to stop the ball, but it ends up brushing against the tip of his fingers and making it into the back of the net. Chelsea's side ends up standing on their feet and cheering loudly when the timer goes off, indicating that Chelsea had won this difficult match. Half of Louis' teammates run over to him and bombard him for making the winning goal, and Harry ends up getting bombarded by his friends when they start hugging and high fiving one another. The celebration on the field and in the stands last for a good amount of time before people are clearing out. The teams return to their respected locker rooms, and Harry ends up ditching his friends to go search for Alexi. 

"Oh my goodness," Alexi says upon seeing Harry. "Is that Harry Styles I see?" 

Harry smiles as he approaches Alexi down in the tunnles, brightening up when he sees Alexi setting Jaxson on his feet. "And is that Alexi Jones?' Harry laughs when Jaxons walks up to him, arms going in the air as if he's signaling for Harry to pick him up. "You must be Jaxson Jones."

"That is me," Jaxson cheers. 

Harry ruffles up Jaxson's hair and walks closer to Alexi. "He's gotten so big since the last time I saw him. Has it really been that long?" 

"Gosh, I don't know. It seems like _forever,_ " Alexi huffs. She presses a kiss to the side of Harry's face and is then stepping back to catch a better glimpse at his appearance. Her eyes widen. "Harry, you look amazing - like you're glowing. Life must be treating you good then, huh?"

Harry laughs nervously , rolling his eyes to the side to watch some random people walk by ."I'm assuming you haven't been on social media in a while?"

"I try to stay off."

Harry twists his lips to the side and finally sets Jaxson down, briefly smiling when he immediately walks back to his mom. When Alexi gets Jaxson in her arms again, Harry places a hand on his belly. "I'm pregnant," he admits. 

"Shut up." 

Harry giggles. "I'm serious."

"No, fucking way," she nearly squeals, gasping in surprise. 

"Mama, bad word," Jaxson interrupts with a pout, handing coming up to Alexi's mouth to cover it. 

Alexi huffs and removes his hand from her face. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." She presses a kiss to his forehead and then sets him down to his feet. "Harry Styles, I can't believe you are pregnant. Congrats to you." Alexi pulls Harry in for a proper hug this time and nearly squeals when she feels the press of his belly against her own. "Oh, wow, there it is."

"I know, I still cannot believe it." 

Alexi pulls back with a sigh and reaches down to hold Jaxson's hand. "I knew it could happen, and whenever we first met, you told me about wanting a baby, I had hoped you were one of the lucky ones who could get pregnant. Now look at ya. Pregnant and gorgeous." 

"Who's gorgeous?" A voice interrupts, causing Alexi, Jaxson and Harry to all turn and see that it's Wes who is approaching. Jaxson lets out a happy sound and removes himself from Alexi to run his way over to his dad. Wes smiles as he crouches down to lift Jaxson up, raising him above his head before bringing him down to kiss his cheeks. "Jax, I missed you buddy." 

Harry smiles as he watches Jaxson and Wes continuing to embrace one another after going so many hours of being apart. Harry feels his heart warm up to the idea of this one day happening with Louis and their child. He can almost picture it so perfectly watching their little baby run up to Louis after a game and congratulating him with a bunch of kisses and cuddles. It's something Harry is looking forward to, and he cannot wait for the day until Harry adds another little cheerleader to support Louis.

Harry sighs happily and places a hand on his belly again. 

"Wes," Alexi then says after Wes and Jaxson get their greeting out the way, Jaxson now resting comfortably against Wes' hip. "Did you know Harry is pregnant?" She asks right away. 

Wes' eyes trail to Harry, a smile settling on his lips. "I saw the post earlier today. That's amazing. Congrats. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to Louis and congratulate him as well." 

"So, whens the wedding?" Alexi questions cheekily, winking at Harry. 

Harry frowns as he lifts his empty hand up. "Still not engaged." 

"Not yet," Wes reminds. 

"Right," Alexi agrees excitedly. "You two have been together _for ages._ I can't wait for you guys to get married. You're going to have the biggest wedding ever."

"I hope so."

There conversation gets interrupt when Harry's phone buzzes with a message. 

"Louis texted me," He informs the two of them, checking what the message reads and shaking his head. "He's freaking out because I'm not with our friends. He's wanting to know where I am." Harry rolls his eyes and pockets his phone. "I should probably go to him."

Alexi smiles sweetly and presses a hand to Harry's bicep. "He's protective. It's cute." 

"The stadium is also packed right now so he's probably worried about being bombarded by paps," Wes says truthfully. "Especially after your post this morning, people are ready to ask a bunch of questions and take pictures." 

Harry sighs regretfully. "You're right," he agrees, running his fingers through his hair. "It was great to see you guys." Harry smiles as he hugs Wes, Alexi and Jaxson before he's turning down the hallway and following the signs that lead him towards the other side of where the locker rooms are. He turns down the hallway and sees Louis surrounded by Liam and couple other teammates, Ronni and Leevi. Harry laughs as he approaches the group. "What's this?" he questions, walking right into Louis' arms. 

"We can't really avoid the paparazzi right now," Louis explains, pressing a kiss to Harry's head. "There's a bunch outside so these guys are going to walk with us and help get you to the bus."

Harry frowns. "Don't you have press to do?"

"Press can wait. Getting back home cannot." 

Louis begins guiding Harry towards the back entrance, the other lads following close behind. "What's at home that cannot wait?" Harry wonders curiously. 

Louis just smiles in response.

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**LouisTomlinson:** My baby x 2 ! Buzzin

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 **HarryStyles commented:** (: x

//

They hold each other's hand as they walk through the grass, hearing the crunch of the leaves underneath their shoes and the breeze of the wind flowing through their hair. They walk through the other tombstones that are placed on the ground until they are finally walking up to the one they are seeking. 

_Claire's._

"Why'd you bring me here?" Harry questions softly, slowing their steps until they are standing right at the headstone with her name on it. 

Louis smiles as he moves his hand to Harry's lower back. "Since we made a bunch of big announcements, I think it's time Claire got to hear the good news."

Harry lets out a shaky breath, eyes suddenly watering up. He reaches for Louis' hand and glances at the grave, sighing breathily. "Hi, Claire," he speaks, blinking up to the sky. Harry breathes heavily when he feels an influx of emotions hit him. Louis squeezes his hand, encouraging. "So, I'm sure you saw the news," Harry says after a moment, a weak laugh coming out. Harry sniffs and wipes at his eyes with his free hand. "I'm pregnant," he finally admits breathily. "And you know, we've been telling a bunch of people the news this past week, and all I could think about was how I would tell you ... if you were here." Harry sniffs. "Gosh, I can just picture your smile - how happy you would be." Louis squeezes Harry's hand again. "The day of your funeral, I told you Louis and I were back together, and I had you to thank for that. I just wish you could be here today to see how good we're doing - to see what we're bringing into this world."

There's a small increase in the breeze, and Harry feels a shiver go down his spine. 

"I wish you were here right now," Harry then admits under his breath. Harry swallows when a large lump forms in his throat, and right before the big wave of tears comes out, he turns his body into Louis' and cuddles him. "I miss her so much," he whispers to Louis, blinking rapidly when the tears start coming on quick. "It hurts that she can't be here with us."

Louis tightens his arms around Harry. "You know she's with you everyday, love. You wear her around your neck and you carry her in your heart." 

"Does it get easier?"

"Does what?" 

Harry wipes at his eyes. "The pain of missing her." 

"It does," Louis admits truthfully, with a shrug, burying his nose into Harry's hair. "You meet someone who makes it easier - who makes you not think about the pain but about the happiness. It's almost like a relief of some sorts."

Harry shifts his head around so he can look into Louis' eyes. "Who was that for you after your dad passed away?" 

"It was you," Louis admits bluntly, smiling softly. "You became the person for me that he used to be, and it kind of freed me from that pain I always felt when thinking about him." Harry hums. "I think that's what our baby is going to be for you."

Harry twists his lips. "What do you mean?" 

"I mean, I think our child is a gift from Claire. She knew how much pain you would feel about her passing so she's giving you another life to have and to love forever. Our child will make it easier. Our child will give you that freedom of no longer feeling pain. Our child will be the best embodiment of Claire." 

"I love you, Louis. Thank you for bringing me here."


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.o

Harry tosses and turns all morning in bed trying to find a good position he can lay in, but he's absolutely restless, and nothing seems to make him feel comfortable enough to stay still. His morning is already off, and he can easily tell despite his eyes still being closed. Normally, Harry wakes to arms around his waist and hands resting against his belly. Sometimes, he even has soft, feathery-like kisses being pressed against the back of his neck or the swell of his stomach. However, this morning, Harry feels nothing. He feels no one, and he's pretty sure this is what's causing him to be so restless. 

"Louis?" Harry questions after the tossing and turning becomes too annoying, even for himself. He slowly crunches his body up so he can get himself into a sitting position. Harry then turns his head and glances at the empty spot next to him on the bed before looking at the closed bedroom door. Harry hums and throws the covers off his body. "Louis!" He calls out again, no response for the second time that morning. 

Harry finally removes himself from the bed and walks over to the bathroom so he can get freshened up for the day. He can tell the flat is eerily quiet, and it's unusual for Louis to be awake and gone before Harry. Normally, Harry is almost always the first one awake, and as Harry takes his morning shower, he tries to think of all the reasons as to why Louis would just leave him like this. He rules out football. Harry knows it's one of Chelsea's off days, and he remembers Louis talking about it just the other day. So, it's not football. After Harry showers, he grabs his robe and covers himself up as he walks over to the sink to continue his morning routine. He gets his toothbrush and paste and begins cleaning his teeth, thinking about the other possibilities as to why Louis isn't here. He rules out Jay next. Harry remembers that Jay had been talking about taking the girls somewhere special for the entire day, and never once was Louis actually included in these plans. Plus, if Louis did end up going with Jay, then Harry knows he would have been dragged along. There would have been no way Louis could have gotten away with showing up to Jay's house without Harry by his side. Not only would Jay gripe on him, but so would Louis' sisters. They all love Harry and adore him, and they try to get any chance they can just to see the boy so Harry knows Louis can't possibly be at Jays. 

Harry sighs and walks over to the closet once he's finished with everything else. He pulls out some maternal leggings that his mother had gifted him last week and grabs one of his larger jumpers to wear since it's starting to get cold out. It's already December, and although Harry's pretty much a furnace right now, this change in weather has been kicking his butt pretty well. Once Harry gets dressed, he walks back into the bedroom and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, pouting as he looks straight out the window in front of him. He still isn't sure where Louis had run off to. Louis typically doesn't go anywhere without informing Harry what he's doing. The only other possibility Harry can think of is Louis going Christmas shopping since the holiday is right around the corner. That seems to be the most logical reason that Harry is going with, and as he goes to finally pick his phone up to give Louis a call, he sees that a notification has popped up on his screen, one that makes Harry let out the biggest breath he could possibly have. 

_Day Mark (Louis' father) passed away._

Harry smacks his forehead as he reads the notification over and over again. Harry remembers when they first started dating that he had put this reminder in his phone so that every year it got close to this time, he could be prepared to help Louis through it. Last year, the two of them were separated around this time, but Harry also knew that Louis had Liam and Zayn by his side while he travelled for his football tour so he wasn't _that_ concerned, but the years prior, Harry had always been there. Harry had been there even before they started dating, and all Harry wanted to do was not make this day a shitty reminder for Louis. Well, he obviously failed this year. It's no wonder Louis wasn't there when Harry woke up. He's probably already feeling shitty, and he's probably caught up in his emotions, and honestly, he probably left Harry alone because with Harry being hormonal and pregnant, Louis knew that Harry wouldn't be much help to him this year. Harry knows Louis likes to keep himself busy on this day and do his best not to think about Mark's passing. It makes sense why leading up to today Louis had been acting weird and sort of off. Harry didn't make any comments or think too much about Louis' strange behavior because he thought maybe it was his pregnancy that was making him assume and see things that weren't there. Well, now he knows. There was a reason to why Louis had been acting weird, and it's because today is the absolute worst day of Louis' life. 

"Fuck," Harry breathes out. "Fuck, I'm an idiot," Harry then announces to the empty room. Harry begins shaking his head at his own disbelief and taps Louis' contact. He quickly types out a message that Harry hopes is sweet and enough to make Louis smile. He waits a couple of minutes for a response, but after the long wait, Louis ends up not replying. 

Maybe Louis just needs this day to himself. Harry can understand. In his process of grieving for Claire, there were days he wanted Louis by his side, and there were days where he just wanted to be alone. 

Harry decides that he isn't going to bother Louis about this and goes to make himself breakfast. It's already half past eight, and he can feel his tummy and his baby grumbling for food. Harry smiles as he walks out the bedroom, hand pressing right on the underside of his belly. "What are we hungry for little bean?" he questions his stomach with a smile. Harry walks into the kitchen ready to pour himself a bowl of cereal, however, upon walking up to the island counters, he sees that there is a breakfast already prepared for him. 

There are two pancakes with a side of bacon and scrambled eggs - ketchup and orange juice already set off to the side with a vase of flowers and a fake candle next to the plate. Harry looks around the kitchen and slowly takes a seat at one of the barstools while he pulls the plate closer to himself. "Louis?" He calls out again, turning his head towards the living space and still seeing it empty. "This is bloody strange," he then mumbles to himself. He looks back at his plate and notices there is a small card hiding behind the vase of flowers. Harry's interest peaks almost immediately, and he quickly grabs the card to see what it says. Harry smiles when he recognizes Louis' handwriting. 

_I left you this note  
_ _For you to find me_  
 _I got you a gift_  
 _I can't wait for you to see  
It's time to get going_  
 _The first clue is set  
Go to the place  
_ _Where we first met._

_\- Lou xx_

_p.s it's cold baby so bundle up x_

Harry feels a giant smile spreading across his face as he finishes reading the note Louis had left him. It definitely can explain why Louis wasn't there when Harry woke up, but it still had Harry slightly confused on what Louis had planning on this day in particular since its the day Mark passed. If Louis wants to distract himself by planning this surprise scavenger hunt for Harry, then of course Harry will indulge in following along. It's probably a good outlet for Louis to focus on making clues and setting up a hunt around town just so he can distract himself from what the meaning of today is. So, Harry finishes the breakfast Louis had set out for him and goes back into the bedroom so he can follow Louis' orders in getting bundled up for the cold. He grabs one of his winter coats, along with a scarf and a beanie, adding a pair of warm socks to his feet that he can stuff into a pair of boots. Once Harry gets properly dressed, he walks back into the kitchen, grabs Louis' note and his keys, then sets out on his journey to find what Louis has in store for him. 

Harry knows exactly where to go after reading the note. The first place he and Louis ever met was in the tunnels of Stamford Bridge so that's where Harry drives to first. He's not sure what he's expecting as he makes his way into the stadium, but he does get excited to see what the surprise Louis has planning for him. Harry parks his vehicle into the closest parking spot near the side door to the stadium and quickly rushes his way inside to minimize his time spent in the cold weather. He walks down the hallway until he's turning towards the tunnel that leads out onto the pitch, anxiously looking around and hoping to see his boyfriend waiting for him somewhere. By the time Harry gets to the edge of the tunnel, he frowns when he sees how empty the field and the stands are. 

"Louis?" Harry calls out, walking further on to the turf. "Louis?" He calls again, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, a pout set on his lips as he turns in a circle to see that his boyfriend is still no where to be found, however, right in the corner of the pitch, a spot near the tunnel where Harry always sets up his station for taking pictures, he sees that there is another gift for him. 

Harry smiles as he walks over to what Louis has left for him. There is a heart shaped box of chocolates with another note taped on top of the lid. Harry has to awkwardly bend down in order to grab the box without his belly getting in the way, and once he gets them in his hold, he tucks the chocolates under his arm while he pulls the note to read what the next thing Louis has planned for him. 

_Congrats, baby_   
_You found the first clue_   
_Another step closer  
Until I see you_   
_Follow the path  
You're right on pace  
Go to the spot  
You call our love place_

_\- Lou_

It's a no brainer where Harry drives to next. He has his box of chocolates resting in the passenger seat of his car and his two sticky notes pressed right on his dash. Harry pulls up to the parking spots along the curb of Hyde Park and feels a small wave of hesitance when he glances out the window to see the bridge out in his view. He knows Louis is doing this for a special reason, and Harry knows the bridge is a spot where he and Louis always met when something was wrong, but it's still such a sore thing for Harry to see after the given circumstances. Harry does hope that he can replace the bad memories he has at the park with some better ones, especially since one of the last times he was there he had to call the paramedics on Claire - and then months later having to have a conversation with his sister about the uncertainties he had about his pregnancy. The park had always been such an escape for Harry, and he wants it to return that way without any haunting memories. Louis did have a point in his note. Harry used to say all the time that this was their love place because through the good and the bad moments between the pain, the two of them somehow always ended up at the park together. It's quite romantic the more Harry thinks about it so, with a heavy breath, Harry turns his car off and gets out the vehicle, wrapping his arms around his body as he begins the slow walk over towards the bridge. 

Harry's heart starts beating faster the closer and closer he gets, and instead of past, horrible memories flooding his mind like Harry thought would happen, he's suddenly hit with this new wave of emotions when he catches sight of a lock attached to one of the bar railings of the bridge. Harry has tears in his eyes as he steps closer to grab a hold of the lock, smiling widely when he sees his and Louis' name engraved in the metal. Harry runs his fingers over the carving before he turns the lock over, seeing what's engraved on the other side. It's the date of when Louis had first caught Harry here at the park, the day Tanner had punched his jaw and Louis helped him through a panic attack. Harry smiles briefly at the memory, feeling tears rise up in his eyes because this day on the lock is one of the first days where Harry got to see a different side to Louis - a side to Louis that is a great older brother to his twin sisters and a side to Louis that can help someone regain their sense to reality. Harry doesn't realize that he gets lost daydreaming about Louis and this cute lock Louis attached to the bridge until his eye is catching sight to another sticky note stuck right next to the bar railing. Harry lets go of the lock, wipes his eyes, and reaches for the note to see what else Louis has to say. 

_Since you said this place was our love spot,  
I decided to make it official by locking our love here forever.  
_

_\- Lou_

Harry giggles under his breath and pulls the sticky note close to his heart, glancing out ahead of him to look at the running water down below. Thats when Harry notices the next gift, sitting perched right on top of the bridge post is a teddy bear holding a heart and a box of cookies. Harry sees that there's another sticky note pressed against the heart the teddy bear is holding, and Harry quickly goes to grab it so he can read his next clue, already eagerly anticipating what Louis has planned next.  
  


 _There's so many places  
_ _Where I fell in love with you  
_ _But this next place to go  
_ _Is where our first kiss came true_

_\- Lou_

Harry grabs his gifts and quickly scurries back to his car. The cold weather is easily nipping at his nose, and he can feel his baby moving around in his belly, and as crazy as this day has been, Harry can honestly say he's having fun following Louis' clues all around London in anticipation for the surprise he has planned. It's been a long couple of hours where Harry hasn't seen Louis, or had Louis' arms around his body, and all Harry can think about is finally finding his boyfriend and never leaving his side. He's cold, and he's clingy, and he turns his car on so he can begin driving to the location Louis' clue gives off - the spot where the two of them had their first kiss - where they made love for the first time - where they had their first, unofficial date. Harry drives down the dirt road he's become all too familiar with until he's passing the pay window and turning into the open area where the movie screens are set up. Harry sees that the place is empty except for the old pick up truck that Louis had kept around - the same pick up truck that they shared their first kiss on - the same pick up truck they celebrated their one year together, and he slows his car down so he can park right in front of the truck, turning his own vehicle off and slowly making his way outside. 

Upon stepping on the ground, Harry sees rose petals scattered all around the truck with a small trail leading around to the back where the bed is. There is a smooth symphony of violins playing in the air, and there are wooden post set up with fairy lights connected in between each one. Harry's eyes shine as he takes in everything, looking around the entire place before he's rounding the truck and seeing that the bed is decorated with a bunch of blankets and pillows. Harry covers his mouth and giggles, running his hand across the fluffy blanket on top. Harry is still unsure what Louis has planned, and he still has yet to actually see his boyfriend, but right when Harry decides to call out for Louis, the bright light from the screen behind him illuminates the whole place. Harry flinches at the light and turns around to see what is being playing, faltering just a little bit when he sees his name up on the screen. Harry lets out a breath as he sits himself up on the edge of the bed, resting a hand on his belly while the other goes behind his body so he can lean back a little. 

Once Harry gets settled in his spot, the slide on the screen then changes to a picture, one that Louis had apparently taken of Harry while he was laying in bed and cuddling a pillow. Harry smiles as more pictures pass on the screen, some that Harry had never seen before, some that were taken in secret without Harry's knowledge. There's photos of Harry brushing his teeth, drinking his nightly tea, relaxing on the couch. There's even pictures of the two of them, selfies they took together, pictures others had taken of them. It's a complete montage of the four years Harry and Louis had known each other shown in these influx of pictures, and by the time the last one is passing, Harry has tears running down his face. There's a transition from the last picture shown of Harry making a silly face to a slide popping up with another message to Harry, one that nearly makes Harry's breath get caught in his chest. 

_All my life_  
 _I felt so alone  
_ _But then I met you_  
 _And my heart had shown._  
 _You make me so happy_  
 _Every single day_  
 _With you by my side_  
 _All the bad fades away._  
 _You give me this love_  
 _Where I feel so free_  
 _Forever starts with you_  
 _So please marry me_  
  


Harry's eyes widen comically after he reads the message and nearly jumps off the bed of the truck. He abruptly turns around when he hears the sound of shoes walking closer to him, and he's even more surprised when Louis leaning against the side of the truck, smirk on his face, a small bouquet of lilies in his hand, and body dressed in a fitted, gray suit. 

"Louis?" Harry breathes out in shock, hands coming up to his mouth when he feels his lips parting in a breathy gasp. 

Louis begins laughing as he steps away from the truck to get in Harry's space, bringing a hand up to cup his jaw before pressing a kiss to the side of his mouth. "You look beautiful, darling," Louis greets with, hand trailing down Harry's arm until he's grabbing Harry's left hand. Harry's breath hitches in his throat. "I'm glad you found me - been waiting for a while."

"W-what is going on?" Harry questions nervously, laughing, not entirely sure he can process everything that is happening right now.

Louis has a gentle smile on his face as he brings Harry's left hand to his mouth so he can press a light kiss across his knuckles. Harry swears all the air inside of him is completely sucked dry because when Louis _finally_ drops down on to one knee, Harry is nearly gasping for a breath. Before Louis can even begin, Harry is crying, nodding his head to the question that Louis has yet to ask yet. 

"Harry," Louis begins, swallowing, smiling nervously, biting his bottom lip as he watches Harry wipe under his eyes with his free hand. "I have to admit, you are not the most subtle person in the world." Louis' grin widens when Harry begins giggling. He ends up setting the flowers up on the edge of the trunk so he can hold Harry's left hand with both of his own. 

"I feel like I did a good job," Harry admits breathlessly.

Louis shakes his head. "I saw it in your eyes when we were at the Caribbean - you lit up anytime someone referred to you as my husband." Harry blushes. "I saw you with the ring on your finger in the shop. That one I tried very hard not to comment on how much of dork you were for that. It's kind of hard to not show any type of emotion when I know how good a diamond looks on your finger."

"I didn't think you payed attention," Harry says wetly, wiping under his eyes and his nose.

Louis rolls his eyes. "I always pay attention to you, baby. You're the love of my life, and there are no amount of words in the entire world that can describe the way I feel about you. My whole life, I never thought I deserved anything good or deserved for someone to love me. I let my past hold me back and let my anger control what I did, but when you walked into my life, it's like you lifted this dark cloud that had been hovering over me for years. You made me feel like I was worth loving. You made me feel like I deserved to be happy. You helped me turn into a man that I am proud to be, and I'm so very happy that you gave me the chance to let me show you my heart - my real heart. The heart that I'm gad you're the holder of because there is no one else in this world that I want to spend my days with. I can't tell you enough how much I love and adore you - from the cute way the dimples on your cheeks show when you smile to the fucking adorable way you scrunch your nose when something happens. You're all I think about. You're all I dream about. You're all my heart, Harry Edward. You consume every part of me, and there's so many things about you that make me love you more and more everyday, and I plan on continuing to fall in love with you and all your little things for the rest of my life." 

Harry has tears rolling down his face and a small mantra of yes' being whispered under his breath. When Louis frees one of his hands to reach into his coat pocket, Harry lets out a breathy laugh and nods his head rapidly. 

"Harry," Louis begins, now opening the black, velvety box he pulled out, exposing a shiny, diamond engagement band resting right in the middle. Harry eyes widen when he catches sight of the ring, hands coming up to his mouth when a loud gasp comes out. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, Louis, of course I will." Harry laughs as Louis slips the ring on his finger, smiling widely as he drags Louis up to his feet so he can wrap him in a hug. "You don't know how badly I wanted this," he cries against Louis' ear, pressing kiss after kiss to the side of his head.

Louis hugs Harry tight to his body and begins to sway them from side to side. "Oh, trust me, I knew, love." 

Harry pulls back with a giggle. "You really want to marry me?" Harry questions, just to be sure, wiping his cheeks when the tears on his face just makes everything wet. He begins laughing some more when Louis goes to cup his jaw. 

"I've been planning this since before we even got together." 

Harry retracts his head a little. "You planned to propose to me even when we were broken up?" Harry runs his hands down Louis' chest and rests it there so he can glance down at his ring every so often. He might be sort of obsessed already.

"I had to get approval first." 

"Approval?" Harry swallows, curling his fingers into Louis' coat. "You asked my mum?" 

Louis shook his head, leaning in to kiss Harry's nose. "Right before Claire passed - a couple days, actually - I had visited her in the hospital. We got to talking about you and our relationship, and that's when I asked Claire what she thought about me proposing to you." Louis smiles at the memory. "She was happy. One hundred percent approved. Loved the fact that I was already thinking about a forever with you. Said it was the greatest thing she could hear before ... you know." 

"You really talked to her about this?" Harry questions quietly, nibbling on the inside of his cheek. 

"I even showed her the ring." 

Harry gasps. "You had the ring then?" 

"I saw it earlier that day when I was looking around the shops, and I had to buy it. I couldn't see any other person but you wearing that ring. I had to show her."

Harry doesn't think twice about pulling Louis in for a much needed kiss, hand pressing to the back of Louis' head so he can keep him in close. Louis grunts when his body gets yanked, but he easily relaxes into the kiss as his arms make their way around Harry's body so he can kiss back just as eagerly. Louis licks his way into Harry's mouth and feels Harry start to go pliant, easily falling into Louis' hold and pressing his lips harder against Louis, nearly forgoing his urge to breathe until he feels his chest starting to burn and his lips starting to sting. Harry slows the kissing down to soft, gentle pecks before he's pulling back, caressing the side of Louis' cheek and leaning in to rub their noses together. 

"Can we _um_... ?" Harry trails off, eyes casting to the side where the blankets are laying on the bed of the truck.

Louis smiles and kisses Harry's lips. "First time as boyfriends, and now first time as fiancés." Louis' hands run up and down Harry's back. "I think this might be our love place after all."

Harry rolls his eyes before he's ripping off Louis' coat.

//

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**HarryStyles:** He asked for forever. I said yes to forever. x

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** u and me against the world bby xxx love you so fucking much

**NiallHoran commented:** HOLY CRAP. I remember when you used to hate Louis

**AnneTwist commented:** It was meant to always be forever between you two xx

//

Louis lays himself comfortably in between Harry's legs and keeps his hands rested on the sides of Harry's belly, smiling as he snuggles in close to it. "You're getting so big in there," he speaks, feeling Harry's fingers running through the top of his hair. "You're making my Harry look all beautiful and irresistible. It's no wonder you got in there in the first place." 

Harry giggles and clamps his legs tighter around Louis' body. Louis briefly glances up at him and winks before focusing back on Harry's belly. 

"I'm ready to feel you kick in there little bean," Louis then complains, finger running lightly across the tattoo Harry has stretched across his stomach. "I need to know if we got another football star in there."

"The doctor said baby movement is inconsistent still." 

Louis pouts some more as he goes to rest the side of his face against Harry's stomach. "I know," he sighs, patting Harry softly. "It's no fair you get to feel the little thing move while I have to sit and wait."

"I feel them now." He uses his free hand to place on the other side of his belly where Louis' face is not resting and smiles widely when he feels his baby moving around. "Little bean always wiggles when they hear your voice." 

Louis press a kiss to Harry's belly. "We'll have to finish this conversation later about letting me feel you kick." Louis then moves around on the bed until he's laying down next to Harry, resting up on his elbow and smiling down at Harry who is blinking up to look at Louis. Louis moves his hand to caress the side of Harry's face. "We find out what we're having tomorrow."

Harry brightens up. "Can't wait for them to say it's a girl."

"It's a boy," Louis argues, smirking, leaning down to press a kiss to Harry's plump lips. Louis hums when they make contact and goes for another kiss, never getting enough of the way Harry's lips feel pressed against his own. He loves how much plumper and swollen Harry's lips have gotten since being pregnant.

"What will our baby call us? We're both boys?" Harry wonders with a slight frown, hand instinctively coming up to rest on the underside of his stomach.

"You should be called mum." 

Harry scoffs, slapping Louis' chest. "Don't be daft." 

"What?" Louis whines. "You act like a mum all the time." 

Harry rolls his eyes. "Fine, you can be daddy." A smirk then spreads across Harry's lips after he says the word, and then he's biting his bottom lip and glancing at Louis, blinking innocently. " _Daddy_ ," he repeats again, this time in a lower voice. 

"Don't make it weird," Louis chastises immediately, pushing Harry's face away so Harry's hooded eyes don't make Louis go all crazy on the inside. "If my child is calling me that then my fiancé is sure as hell not." 

Harry blushes instantly, licking his lips and bringing up his left hand up to look at the ring that is now on his finger. "I like being called that."

"I know you do, darling." 

Harry sighs and shifts on the bed so he can somewhat turn on his side, using the pillow to help alleviate some of the tension his belly puts on his hips. Once he gets his body facing Louis, he brings his left hand up to hold Louis' jaw, smiling as he tilts Louis' head in his direction. "I love you," Harry says, pressing a kiss to Louis' mouth. "And Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, baby. I love you, too." 

Harry hums happily and leans back against the pillows, blinking, a soft smile on his face as he reaches up to run his finger along the curve of Louis' jaw. "I'm tired." 

"You're growing our baby so I'd imagine," Louis teases, quickly kissing Harry's finger when Harry traces his way to Louis' mouth. 

"Nap with me?" Harry questions with a pout. 

Louis groans regretfully as he pulls away from Harry, laughing under his breath when Harry whines in protest. "The lads are coming over later. I need to get everything ready." 

"It's your birthday," Harry reminds with a scoff. "You should be relaxing while I take care of everything." 

Louis places his hand on the mattress and leans over Harry, rubbing their noses together. "That might be the case if you weren't pregnant and tired all the time." Louis kisses Harry on the lips. "Just relax. It's not that hard to get food delivered and to remove the cake from the fridge. I am capable of doing this you know." 

"I know," Harry pouts, gripping Louis' shirt to keep him from pulling away. "But I want cuddles." 

"Cuddle later. Rest now." Louis kisses Harry's forehead this time and gently coaxes him back to laying on the pillow. "I'll wake you whenever the lads get here." 

Harry doesnt put up much of a protest because he can already feel his eyes closing. It really doesn't take a lot for Harry to take naps throughout the day. That's probably when he gets his most sleep done because when it comes to actual bed time, Harry can never find the right position to lay in for hours. He had intended on making this day beyond special for Louis since they didn't get to celebrate Louis' birthday last year together, but, he's pregnant, and he's tired, and he really does not have the energy to set up the decorations and get everything situated before all their friends get there. So, really, Harry doesn't feel too bad. He did make the call to get the food delivered to the place. His baby was craving fajitas, and so that's what's being brought for the party. 

As Harry takes his nap, Louis steps out into living area and begins cleaning up around the place. He still has a couple hours until the lads arrive, and there still some things he needs to get settled for Harry so that when he wakes up he won't worry about anything not being prepared. The food gets delivered shortly, and Louis goes to place everything on the center island counters. Harry had set some decorations out on the couch he intended hanging on the walls so Louis makes sure he places the decorations in various spots of the flat. After he gets those up, he gets the desserts out the fridge, and by the time everything is settled and he's got music playing on the stereo, he hears the buzzer to his flat going off. 

"I'm coming. I'm coming," he calls out. Louis sets the stereo remote on the coffee table and walks over to the door, swinging it open and seeing Niall and Ellie standing there. 

"Hello, baby daddy," Niall greets. He walks up to Louis and plants a slobbery kiss to the side of his face before he's shoving his present in Louis' hand and walking past him. 

Louis lifts his eyebrow and then glances at Ellie, seeing her smile. "Happy Birthday, Lou. Don't mind him."

"When do I ever." Louis rolls his eyes and gives Ellie a quick hug. He lets Ellie inside the place, and before he has the chance to close the door, he sees the elevator down the hall opening up, unveiling Zayn and Gigi heading his way. Louis brightens up instantly. "So glad you two can take time away from boning each other to come visit." 

Zayn frowns as he swats at the back of Louis' head. "Shut the hell up."

"Happy to see you, too." 

The three of them enter the flat and join Ellie and Niall who have already taken a spot on the couch. They break out the first bottle of alcohol and begin making drinks. In the mean time, Liam and Sophia, Liam's new girlfriend, arrive to join in on the party. A couple of Louis' other teammates show up as well, and when the group decides to start playing some drinking games, Niall then notices something. 

"Hey, Lou, where's Harry?" he questions curiously, eyebrows furrowed as he glances at the closed bedroom door. 

Louis hums thoughtfully. "He went down for a nap a while ago, but it's been a couple hours now."

"He's probably exhausted from carrying your mini me," Gigi mumbles under her breath. 

Louis twists his lips to the side and moves to stand from the couch. He's about to walk over towards the bedroom just so he can check in on Harry and make sure he is okay, but as he goes to make his first step, he sees the bedroom door opening and Harry walking out. 

"Lou, do you mind if we switch it up today and I stick it in you?" 

Harry asks it so casually as if he doesn't have a full room with their closest friends sitting around. Despite that, Harry doesn't even pay attention to anyone else because he's too focused on picking at the chipped paint on his nails to actually register that they are not alone. His hair is still slightly messy from his nap, and his eyes watery, lips puffy. His cheeks are slightly red from where it was resting against the pillow, and he has two different socks on his feet. Harry's sweats have monkeys on them, and the sweater he has on is too big, even for him, and for a split second, Louis really wonders if Harry has completely forgot that he planned for their friends to come over to celebrate his birthday or if he's just lost his damn mins. 

"Or you can stick it in me, I guess," Harry adds in with a sigh. He walks up to the couch and finally looks up from his nails, eyes widening in slight surprise when he notices their friends. Harry instantly smiles. "Oh, hi everyone."

Louis shakes his head and sits back on the couch, going to press his hand to his forehead. 

"Hi, H," Ellie waves. 

"Did the nap make you horny?" Zayn questions with a snort. 

Niall groans in annoyance. "Please, change the subject. I don't need any more images of Harry and sex in my head." 

"I forgot you caught them," Ellie reminds with a giggle. 

"I'm not horny," Harry eventually answers Zayn. He walks over to Louis and smiles down at him as he goes to sit next to Louis' body, curling up against Louis' side and resting his legs across Louis' lap. 

Zayn lifts his eyebrow, confused. "You just asked Louis if you could fuck him." 

"Stop it," Niall whines, covering his ears. 

"I was just thinking about birthday sex later." 

Liam lets out a heavy breath and slouches against the couches. "Oh, gosh," he mutters. 

"Let's just change the subject," Louis quickly intervenes, hand coming down to rest on Harry's knee. "Now that Harry is awake and _not_ horny - " Harry giggles "Lets continue with the game."

"Why don't we actually celebrate your birthday now?" Liam suggests instead, scooting to the edge of the couch before standing up and glancing at Harry. "We were waiting to do do food, cake, and presents whenever you woke up." 

Harry's eyes widen excitedly. "Cake?" 

Louis smiles and runs his hand down Harry's back. "Is little bean wanting cake now?" 

Harry smiles and nods. 

"I'll go grab the cake," Ellie announces. 

"I'll come with," Sophia adds in with a smile. "I can grab the candles and lighter." 

"So, you mentioned presents?" Louis then questions with a wide grin, glancing back and forth between the rest of them on the couch. 

Harry nuzzles his head underneath Louis' chin. "I have one for you," he mumbles softly, arm wrapping around Louis' belly. "I can go grab it." 

"Babe, you don't need to give me anything. I have you and little bean, that's more than enough." 

Gigi grimaces and makes a disgusted sound. "Gag," she complains. 

Ellie and Sophia are then walking back into the area with the cake and the candles. Ellie goes to place the cake on the coffee table while Liam grabs the presents that have been lazily placed around the flat since they first arrived. Sophia lights the candles once the cake is set securely on the table, and then all of them begin singing Happy Birthday to Louis. They spend the next couple of minutes cutting slices of cake and passing it around while Louis opens his gifts. When he's got all of them opened and a growing pile of wrapping paper on the floor, Harry finally stands to go get the present he has for Louis. He hid it in the back of his closet since he knows Louis doesn't ever go in his clothes. It's a small box wrapped in gold paper, a cute bow on the top that he hands over to Louis with a bright smile. 

"I wrapped the present myself," Harry admits with a giggle, one hand going to the underside of his belly while the other goes to his back, standing in front of Louis so he can properly watch him open the gift. "Even has a little bow on it." 

Louis shakes his head fondly. "You're a dork," he says under his breath, gently taking the bow off and placing it on top of Harry's stomach. Then he begins unwrapping the gift, unveiling a black box. Louis carefully lifts the lid of the box, and Louis sees a silver Rolex with diamonds embedded all around the case of watch. Louis lets out a breath as he picks the watch up, letting the box fall to the ground so he can admire every inch of detail. "Harry," he whispers in awe, turning the watch around and running his fingers over the date that's engraved on the back. 

It's the day Louis proposed to Harry. 

"This is beautiful, love." 

Harry clears his throat, "There's one more thing in there," he adds slightly hesitantly. 

Louis lifts his eyebrow and sets the watch on his lap so he can grab the box again. This time when he looks, he sees there is a silver chain necklace stuffed in the corner, inside a small ziplock bag. Louis quickly goes to grab it and takes the necklace out the bag, showing off the infinity charm that is looped through the chain. Louis lets out another gasp as he goes to grab the charm, holding the infinity sign in between his fingers and seeing blue and green gemstones embroidered around the outline of the infinity loop. 

"Babe, these are amazing," Louis continues to compliment, now holding both gifts in his hands because he just can't stop looking at them. Harry really outdid himself this year. 

"They're gorgeous," Gigi comments as well. 

"There's one more thing," Harry adds, now sounding more nervous than before. Harry lets out a shaky breath, and when Louis hears this, he quickly glances up at Harry with a frown. "So, like, I know you don't really wear rings - and I planned on proposing to you as well after you proposed to me - so I kind of had to get unique with what I wanted to do for this because I kind of liked the fact that the first ring you would ever wear would be our wedding bands."

Harry already has tears in his eyes as he reaches to grab Louis' wrist with one hand and the necklace in the other. Louis watches on carefully with a growing smile on his face, and for a brief moment, it feels like they are the only two people in the world that matter. They forget they have their friends sitting around them watching everything happening because when green eyes are looking in to blue eyes, it seems like everything else around them doesn't exist. The two are somewhat brought back to reality when they hear their friends gasping, but they make no comment or effort to look their way. 

"I can't really get down on one knee so is this okay?" Harry quickly questions before continuing. 

Louis giggles as he nods his head. "It's perfect, love."

"Okay," Harry sighs, letting out a deep breath before he's continuing. "So, I'm pregnant right now, and I might be very emotional. I'm not sure how well I can get through this without crying - " He says as he starts crying. Louis laughs. - "but since you did so much just to prove how much you want to spend the rest of your life with me, I wanted to do the same."

Ellie reaches for Niall's hand. "This is so cute," she whispers to her him. 

"Louis Tomlinson," Harry begins, squeezing Louis' wrist, laughing when he has a tear drip off his chin. "I love you so much, and I know I pestered you for months about proposing to me, but you don't realize how happy you made me when you asked to marry me. It's something I've been wanting for the longest time, and thinking about spending the rest of my life with you by my side sounds like a dream come true, and I can't wait to have my forever with you. You're the love of my life. My first love. My forever love. My whole heart, and even thought I already said yes to marrying you, will you do the same back and say yes to marrying me?"

Louis nods his head as he stands to his feet, laughing when he goes to cup the sides of Harry's face. "I would marry you a hundred times if I could." Louis presses a kiss to Harry's lips and has a bright smile on his face when he pulls back. "Of course I'll marry you, Harry."

Harry bites his lip and puts the necklace around Louis' neck, preening when he sees the infinity loop resting right on Louis' chest. 

After Harry's proposal is finished, they all go back to hanging around and playing games. Everyone stays for a couple more hours until its turning night time, and Harry gets tired. By the end of the night, Harry and Louis are back in bed. Louis is resting up against the headboard with his phone out so he can respond to the million birthday wishes he received from his friends while Harry rests on his side with his head on Louis' chest. It's quiet as they lay there together, and while Harry waits for Louis to get caught up on his messages, he brings his left hand out and lays it on Louis' stomach, smiling as he admires the engagement ring on his finger ... again.

"Happy?" Louis ends up questioning, having noticed that Harry was looking at his ring for the umpteenth time. 

Harry hums when he feels Louis' lips to his forehead before he sees Louis setting his phone on the nightstand. Harry smiles and blinks up at Louis. "How can I not be?" 

"The ring looks beautiful on you." Louis grabs Harry's hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles. 

Harry smirks. "I can say the same about your necklace," he giggles. 

Louis rolls his eyes and ducks down so he can press a kiss to Harry's lips, but right as he goes to make contact, Harry ends up pulling away with a wince. "What's wrong?" Louis worries. 

"Louis, feel," he says quickly, turning his body slightly back so he can grab Louis' hand to place on the side of his belly. When he feels that same thing that made him wince, his eyes light up. "Did you feel that?"

"Little bean is kicking," Louis states breathlessly, a growing smile on his face when he feels it again. "Our baby is happy we're engaged."

Harry bites his lip and looks into Louis' eyes again, his own beginning to water. "I love you," he admits. 

"I love you, too," Louis says in response, shaking his head and laughing some more when he keeps feeling those small little nudges against the palm of his hand. "And I love you, too," he says to Harry's belly as he bends down to press a kiss against the side of it, smiling so wide that it creates crinkles by his eyes. "I love you both," he ends up whispering into the night. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **LouisTomlinson:** I get to marry the fuck out of him one day. Best present ever. 

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 **NiallHoran commented:** That statement is odd

**HarryStyles commented:** Happy Birthday Boo Bear !!!! Love you xxxx

//

It's Christmas, and Harry and Louis have both of their families over at their place. 

Anne and Jay are slaving in the kitchen together to hep get the Christmas meal prepared. Dan and Robin are lingering in the kitchen to help as much as they can. Gemma is occupying her time by showing the twins some of her old coloring books, and she ends up sitting down with them at the table so she can color alongside them. Harry watches them on with a smile and loves how quickly his and Louis' family have blended over the years. 

"So, you and my brother are getting married?" Fizzy comes up to question as she joins Harry on the couch. Harry turns his head from where he was watching Gemma and the twins to look at Fizzy with a smile. "I knew you were perfect for him since the day I met you."

Lottie ends up walking over to join them as well. "You mean, you always thought he was cute," Lottie teases with a wink. 

"Cute?" Harry questions, raising his eyebrow. 

Fizzy nods, a bright smile on her face. "Of course. You're very cute. Louis says so all the time." 

"What does Louis say?" Louis mocks as he exits the bedroom door to head towards Harry. He smiles instantly when his eyes land upon Harry, and he goes to take the empty spot next to his boy so he can place a hand on Harry's belly. "Are we kicking today little one?" he questions Harry's stomach. 

Harry smiles as he runs his fingers through Louis' fringe. "Not kicking, but definitely swimming around in there." 

Louis hums and presses a kiss to Harry's belly before he's pressing a kiss to Harry's lips.

"Alright guys, we ready to find out what we're having?" Anne eventually questions, stepping away from the kitchen.

Jay, Robin and Dan end up following Anne into the living room, and then Daisy and Phoebe are perking up from the dining table when they hear it's gender reveal time. The twins cheer happily as they scramble away from the table to join where everyone is gathered in the living room. Gemma laughs softly under breath while she briefly cleans up their mess before she's walking over to the rest of the family as well. 

"Are we placing bets?" Gemma questions with a smirk, tilting her head when Harry scowls at her. 

"We're not placing bets on my child," Harry complains. 

"I hope it's a girl," Phoebe calls out. 

"I hope it's a boy," Daisy argues in return. 

Soon enough, everyone is calling out what they hope the gender is, and it ends up coming to the point where the family is more focused on arguing what they think the baby will be rather than actually letting the reveal happen. It finally calms down when Anne and Jay step in to silence everyone, reminding them all that Harry and Louis still have to participate in the game so that everyone can see what the baby is. The only ones who know are them, and they came up with the idea to do a football gender reveal where one of them rolls the ball while the other one kicks it so that blue or pink dust will explode in the air. 

"Okay," Anne says once everything is situated. She has the football in her hand and motions for Harry and Louis to stand up. They had clear a path along the back side of the couch where they can do the little activity. Since the dust doesn't stain, Louis figured they could easily do the reveal inside the flat instead of doing it outside where they run the risk of paparazzi or fans intruding on a family moment. "One of you will roll the ball, and the other will kick it." 

"Get your phones ready guys," Lottie cheerfully says, already pulling her phone and aiming it at her brother and Harry. 

"Can I kick the ball?" Harry eagerly questions once he gets to standing across from Louis. 

Louis shakes his head and grabs the ball from Anne so he can hand it off to Harry. "Babe, you're way too clumsy to kick a football. I've seen you try before."

Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes. "I'm not _that_ clumsy." 

"You're clumsy enough to get pregnant," Gemma fires back. 

"Gemma," Anne scolds, giving her a look that tells her to be quite. 

Harry smirks in response. 

"Okay, babe, just roll it straight to me, and I'll kick," Louis instructs Harry.

He gets in to position and waits for Harry to roll the football across the empty space. As Harry lets the ball go and it begins to travel towards Louis, the entire room goes silent in anticipation for what's about to be unveiled. Anne and Jay are watching on with giant smiles on their faces. Phoebe and Daisy are standing on the couch nearly jumping up and down because they're so excited. Lottie is recording the whole thing, and Fizzy and Gemma are holding each other's hands so tightly while Dan and Robin stand off to the side. It takes a couple of seconds for the ball to actually reach Louis, and once it does, he takes a small step back, gets his leg ready, and then sends a hard kick towards the ball.

Immediately when his foot makes contact, the ball disintegrates, and there is pink dust flying absolutely everywhere. 

"It's a girl," Harry cheers, tears in his eyes as he makes his way over to Louis. The two of them hug under the pink dust that is falling on top of them, and as they listen to their family members cheering and getting excited that a new little girl is making her way into the family, all Harry can focus on are the bright, shiny blue eyes looking right back at him. Harry bites his lip and cups the side of Louis' face, giggling as he leans in to rub their noses together. "We're having a little girl," Harry whispers this time, privately to Louis just so they can have this moment together. 

"A little girl with green eyes," Louis says in response, a wide smile on his face as he presses a kiss to Harry's lips. 

"Blue eyes," Harry argues right away.

//

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****

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**HarryStyles:** Baby ... girl ... loading

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 **GemmaStyles commented:** Put pants on

**LouisTomlinson commented:** fuck im so lucky 


	39. Chapter 39

It's a good day to have a good day. This is something Harry keeps repeatedly telling himself as he wakes up in the morning. He knows it's game day for Louis, and now that he's edging on the third trimester, Harry won't actually get to be out on the field with his fiancé to take pictures of the team. _Fiancé_. It's still so crazy to Harry that he and Louis are now engaged. They are just one step closer to actually being husbands, and ever since Louis put the ring on Harry's finger, Harry has been living on cloud 9. Everything is just going so great these past couple of weeks, and Harry can't think of anything that will disrupt this high he has been living on. He's happy. More than happy, and this is probably one of the first times in Harry's life that he can say he's looking forward to his days rather than dreading it. So, on this good morning that he's having, he wakes up early, and he heads to the one place where he knows he can embrace his good mood. 

Claire. 

Harry lets out a breath of fresh air once he makes it to the cemetery. He has a bouquet of white lilies in his hand that he plans to replace the ones he had left the last time he visited. It's been awhile since Harry had talked with Claire, and sometimes, he does feel guilty that he doesn't stop and take a moment to think about her. He knows the one thing Claire would want is for Harry to continue his life and not dwell on her passing, and sometimes, Harry does feel like he does a great job of it, but then there are other times, when his laugh is too loud, and his smile is too wide, that he stops and think - he thinks about the fact that he's having fun and he's alive, and there was once a point in time when Claire was doing the same thing. It's crazy how fast that switch can be flipped, but it makes him feel shitty that he's getting to live while Claire does not. Harry misses her everyday, and there are times when he's laughing, or he's smiling, when he just wishes Claire can be right there with him. 

"Hey, you," Harry greets once he actually makes it to her headstone, lips curving up when he reads _beloved daughter, friend, and cousin_ underneath her name. He sighs as he goes to place the flowers on the ground before he's making the slow trip to sit down, groaning a little bit when his back pops in protest. "It's getting harder for me to sit now," he admits with a small laugh, pressing a hand to his belly while the other goes behind his body. Harry ends up closing his eyes and leans back a little. "I know you already know the news, but I figured I would still tell you everything. We're having a little girl." 

There's a swift breeze that blows past, and a wide grin makes it way on to Harry's face. He opens his eyes and looks back at her headstone. 

"Sometimes it's hard for me to be happy about things because you're not here with me anymore, but then I remember that you gifted me with this baby, and it makes everything a little easier to handle. I have a feeling you wanted me to have a girl - I wanted one as well." Harry licks his lips and glances back up at the sky, the sun barely making it's way into the day. "Louis wanted a boy, but, I think he's more than excited to have a girl. He's going to be so good with her." Harry blinks when he feels tears. "Just like he was with you." Harry lets out a sigh when he feels himself getting choked up, and he ends up laughing because his hormones lately really have been making him so emotional so quickly. "When I have my baby, Claire, I want you to meet her. She needs to know who her guardian angel is, and she needs to know that her cousin Claire is the best person to have looking out for her. I wish you really could meet her, but whenever she gets here, I'm going to tell her all our stories and show her how to make the best flower crowns ever. We can make them here, together. It'll be like you're here with us." 

Harry doesn't mean to start full on crying, but he does. It's kind of what he does most days now that he's gotten farther in his pregnancy. Talking to Claire in the past always made him emotional, but as he gets closer and closer to his baby's due date, it's like anything can trigger him, especially when it comes to Claire. He spends the next hour sitting at Claire's headstone while aimlessly talking about what he's been doing since the last time he visited while simultaneously watching the sun rise in the sky. He knows he needs to head back soon since Louis has a game and they're riding together, but he tries to spend every moment he can by being where she lays. After he checks the time and sees that it's nearing eight, he decides to head back to the flat so he can make it in time to when Louis wakes up. He decides to stop at the bakery on the way to grab them both breakfast before he's making it into the flat. He walks inside and hears movement going on in the bedroom so he figures Louis is just finishing up getting ready. Harry walks over to the island counters and sets both their breakfast on top before he's heading towards their room. 

"Louis?" Harry calls out, pushing the door open and seeing Louis walk out the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Harry smiles instantly. "Sorry I missed the show."

Louis rolls his eyes and walks right up to Harry, greeting him with a kiss. "There can always another one later." 

"I bought us breakfast." 

"What were you craving this time?" Louis questions with a smirk. He walks over to the closet and drops his towel on the ground so he can begin getting dressed. 

Harry hums, interested, and follows Louis. "A pastry and an egg croissant." Harry leans against the doorway and lifts an eyebrow as he watches Louis shimmy boxers up his legs. "Is getting dressed really necessary?" 

"Ha, ha," Louis mocks, grabbing the first shirt he finds to cover himself up. Once he gets that and some pants on, he grabs his uniform bag and meets Harry at doorway. "Are you coming to the game today?" 

"Of course I'm coming. You're playing. I wouldn't miss it." 

Louis twists his lips to the side. "We're playing Arsenal today, babe. That's why I asked."

_Oh._

Harry deflates a little when he realizes what that means. It means he'll see Flynn, and the last time he saw Flynn was awhile ago when he and Louis were still broken up. It was on a day that Claire and his family had urged him to get some time away from the hospital by taking photos as an outlet. Harry had been excited to finally be out on the pitch with his camera, it had been awhile since he got to do it, and it had been awhile since he got to do it with Louis on the field, but that day happened to be the day where they played Arsenal, and of course, Harry had ran into Flynn. The whole thing didn't necessarily end well, for Flynn, but there is still the trigger of seeing Flynn that brings Harry back to the day where he lost himself, and that's not really a reminder Harry is wanting to relive. 

"That's okay," Harry finally says with a swallow, eyes casting down to his shoes. 

Louis frowns and tilts Harry's head back up, looking at Harry concerned. "You really don't have to go. I know that wanker will be there, and nothing good ever comes from him." 

"Louis," Harry smiles, softening up when he sees Louis already getting protective. He leans in to press a kiss to Louis' lips before bringing a hand to the back of his head. "I can manage. I'll be in the stands this time, with Zayn and Niall, so everything will be fine. I'll be fine. I like supporting you, honey, and I don't want to miss it because of some jealous prick." Harry brings his left hand up and wiggles his ring finger. "We're engaged now. He has nothing on me - on us. Nobody does."

"You're also carrying my baby so we're double locked in," Louis teases as one hand curves around Harry's back so he can rest it right above his ass. "Now, are you going to change into my jersey number or are you going to continue wearing this hideous shirt."

Harry scoffs, offended, and pushes Louis away from him. "I like this shirt." 

"Baby, it has sperm on it." 

Harry rolls his eyes and grabs a loose t shirt that has Louis' name and number on the back, huffing and puffing as he switches in to that. "It's not sperm," he argues, tossing said shirt in Louis' direction. "It's squiggly lines."

"It's sperm."

Harry huffs, annoyed, and follows Louis out the bedroom so they can head to the stadium together. Louis wonders off towards the locker room once the two of them arrive so he can get ready for the match while Harry takes the back hallway to get into the VIP section on the field. He sees that Niall and Zayn are already waiting in their seats, both aimlessly chatting with one another until they see Harry approaching. 

"Hey, Preggo," Niall greets, standing so he can give Harry a hug. 

Harry winces a little when Niall's arms go around his body and inflicting an unusual discomfort inside of him, but he brushes it aside as standard pregnancy pain. "I'm doing good," he breathes out, taking a slow seat in his chair before glancing at Zayn with a smile. "Hey, Z." 

"Hey, mate," Zayn replies, soon frowning as he leans forward to look at Niall. "Isn't that spaghetti sauce?" he questions. 

Harry giggles when the two of them starting arguing with one another, but he begins to feel a small, sharp pain shooting down the side of his belly that has him wincing again. He leans back in his seat and presses a hand where he felt the pain pass through, trying to take slow, steady breaths in order to keep himself calm. 

"Hey, we're going to go get something to drink, you want us to bring back anything?" Niall eventually asks. 

Harry's head jerks at the sound of his voice, and he turns to see Niall and Zayn already standing. Zayn has a slightly wary look on his face as if he had been watching this wave of pain pass through Harry. Harry opts to ignore it and focus more on the idea of having some snacks to maybe distract him from this unusual feeling he has shooting through his belly. He thinks it's just his baby pressing up against a nerve that's causing this tingling sensation in his body. He's hoping that maybe some sweets and food will be enough to make his little girl wiggle around to get him some sort of relief because right now, his pelvis is really starting to hurt. 

"Yeah," Harry swallows, trying to brush his discomfort away by smiling. "I'll take a pretzel and a lemonade." Niall nods his head and takes a step past Harry to follow Zayn up the stairs, but before the two of them can full ascend, Harry is quickly reaching for Niall's wrist. "Can you get some mustard on the side?" 

Niall grimaces. "Sure." 

"And maybe some french fries?" 

Niall nods his head. 

"And popcorn?" 

Niall laughs as he slowly retracts his hand from Harry's hold. "H, I'll get you everything on the menu, how about that?" 

"That would be great," Harry preens. 

Once Niall and Zayn head up the stairs to leave Harry where he is, that's when Harry lets out a big groan. He reclines in his seat when the pain in his belly doesn't seem to cease. It's enough to make his head spin and whimper under his breath. Harry feels the pain low in his stomach and sharp. He tries clenching his fist together tightly and gritting his teeth together as his way of pushing through the pain, but the longer he sits there, the more it seems to increase. It comes to the point where Harry has to close his eyes to bite back a whine, not even sure why he's feeling this much pain to begin with. Harry wants to believe this is just standard pregnancy cramping and contractions, but with every shooting sensation that passes through his belly, he has this growing fear inside of him that something is wrong because the pain he is feeling is progressively getting lower and lower in his pelvic area. 

"Harry?" 

Harry opens his eyes brashly and lets out a heavy breath when he hears the sound of his boyfriend. Harry is still undecided if he's relieved to see him or not. 

"Babe, what's going on? You look like your in pain." Louis steps closer to the wall and reaches over the railing to grab Harry's wrist. 

Harry swallows down the pain and smiles weakly. "I think these are contractions. I don't know, but whatever it is, it hurts a lot."

"If your contractions are that painful this early, then we need to go to the doctor." 

Harry begins shaking his head and scoots towards the end of his seat, reaching for Louis' hand to hold in both his own. "Louis, it's okay. I think it's just Braxton Hicks plus little jelly bean pressing on a nerve. I promise, I'm okay. Please just - worry about the game, and worry about kicking Arsenal's ass. I think me and little one would really like that today." 

Louis eases up just a little, enough to let out a breath and smile. "If it gets worse, just flag me down." 

"Louis, you'll be in the middle of a game," Harry nearly yelps. 

"I don't care. Just wave me down." 

Harry rolls his eyes and moves to stand from his seat. He walks closer to the wall so he can reach to cup the side of Louis' face. "Focus on the game, honey. We'll be rooting for you, okay?" 

"Okay," Louis sighs, pressing a brief kiss to Harry's lips before he's stepping away. "I'll see you after the game. I love you both." 

Harry has a goofy grin as he watches Louis turn around to run back to his team. "We love you, too," he calls out. 

Niall and Zayn shortly come back with a tray of drinks and all the snacks Harry had requested for and plus some. Harry is thankful enough by the time they arrive, the cramping, or the contractions, or whatever the hell kind of pain he had felt starts to subside a little. He wonders if maybe the pain is due to the fact that he's hungry again despite having ate breakfast with Louis before he left. Harry knows he gets hungry more frequent, and this unusual cramping typically comes and goes. Harry never really thought they were contractions, but whatever this pain that keeps occurring in the lower side of his belly is uncomfortable, and he hopes it doesn't last the remainder of his pregnancy. 

The game begins shortly after Harry gets settled with his food. He's preoccupied enough to not even register that Flynn is out there on the field, which is a good thing considering Harry's stress level would spike up even more than it currently is. Harry gets to munch on his snacks throughout the game while watching Louis on the field work his magic. He sees a couple times when Louis and Flynn run by each other, but nothing more than unfriendly words get exchanged, and their moments are so short and quick that by the time Harry even glances their way, Louis is already running to another position on the field. The game ends up being great, and Harry finally gets to enjoy a time where he can be a spectator in the stands and not have to worry about taking pictures of the whole team or running in to Flynn at some point on the field. The stands are a safe zone, and Harry really enjoys the fact that he gets to sit and enjoy the company of his friends as they stand up on their feet to cheer the both times Chelsea scores and the three times Liam blocks the ball from Arsenal scoring. 

Chelsea ends up winning two to zero. Before the game actually ends, Zayn and Niall quickly get up from their seats so they can get a head start towards the bathroom line. Harry is fine with waiting in his seat so he can meet with Louis after the game so he opts to remain where he is at to watch the final minutes tick by on the game. Once the buzzer goes off and Chelsea is announced the winner, the people in the stands begin to file out one by one. Louis is currently pre occupied with his team as they celebrate this big win so Harry patiently waits in his spot until Louis is free to come meet him. He knows Niall and Zayn will probably remain up top to wait out the crowd until there is minimal people using the stairs so really, Harry doesn't mind spending the next few minutes waiting and relaxing in his seat. In all honesty, he probably needs to relax the most right now just to ensure those waves of pain do not return. Except, of course, in the time that Harry is sitting in his chair, left hand resting on the top of his belly, eyes blinking slowly due to the sleepiness that's taking over, he hears someone call out his name from the field. Harry's head tilts up when he hears the voice, and for a brief second, he feels his heart jump in excitement for it to be Louis, but upon his eyes landing on the unwelcoming body that is getting closer to him, he feels himself begin to tense up. 

"Well, Styles, fancy seeing you today," Flynn greets with a wicked smirk, eyes falling down to Harry's belly and widening in slight surprise. 

Harry squirms in his seat at the judgmental look on Flynn's face. He knows he's pretty far along in his pregnancy, and he knows that it's nearly impossible to hide his belly at this point, but the way Flynn is currently staring at him makes him feel nervous and squeamish on the inside. However, the longer Flynn stares at Harry stomach, the more Harry realizes what exactly Flynn is looking at when he sees the slight furrow to his brow and the downward tilt to his lips. 

"You're wearing a ring," Flynn mutters under his breath, a hint of defeat and hurt laced with his tone. 

Harry swallows nervously and curls his fingers into his shirt, trying hard to not glance down at his ring to make it even more obvious that he's wearing it. "Yeah," Harry agrees, blinking. "Louis proposed." 

"He proposed before or after you found out you were pregnant?" Flynn wonders right away, eyes flicking up towards Harry's. 

Harry cocks his head back, offended. "Excuse me?" 

"Did he ask to marry you before or after you got pregnant? The question is pretty simple." 

Harry's not sure where Flynn is going with this, but he doesn't like it, and he feels his stomach beginning to cramp up again that just adds even more stress and discomfort to himself. 

"After," Harry responds with a bite to his lip. 

That seems to be the answer Flynn was expecting because he begins nodding his head in agreement and laughing for an unexplained reason. "Of course he did," he says, smirking, resting his hands on his hips. "What better way to trap a man forever than by getting pregnant with his child? It's no wonder he proposed. He had to." 

"You're wrong," Harry argues defensively. He hates himself that he feels tears watering up his eyes, but again, being in the third trimester and arguing with his fiancé's ex-boyfriend really isn't a mood lifter. In all honesty, Harry hates that he feels the urge to cry rather than feels the urge to be mean because he could really use that pregnancy hormone in his defense right now, but instead, he's reduced to tears. "He wanted to marry me before any of this happened. It's not because I'm pregnant," Harry then clarifies, trying to sound confident but his voice wavering gives himself away.

Flynn shakes his head, not believing it. "Right, because I definitely believe Louis would want to spend the rest of his life with someone who cheated on him with some no name journalist." 

"I didn't cheat on him," Harry nearly yells, head spinning in protest when he uses too much effort in his voice in trying to prove a point. Harry swallows and tries relaxing back in his seat when he realizes he's tensed. He tries calming himself down by steadying his breaths, but when the dull pain returns to the lower part of his pelvis, it's hard for him to remain calm. "I didn't cheat," he responds much quieter this time. "Jake was just my friend."

Flynn hums, hands gripping the railing in between them. "I mean, I know you two broke up for awhile so was getting pregnant your ploy to trap him for the rest of your life? He's got the money." 

Harry wishes he had the energy to respond and defend himself and his relationship with Lous, but all the words he wants to say ends up dying down in his throat when a whine belts out of him from the sharp pain returning. Harry clenches his eyes shut and reaches a hand out instinctively to his belly, clutching on whatever he can hold on to when the pain is constant and persistent. 

"Harry?' Flynn questions when he notices the change in Harry, now sound slightly worried. "Hey, what's going on?"

Harry bites his lip and lets out another whine. "It hurts," he complains, nearly in tears. 

Flynn stutters for a moment not entirely sure what he's supposed to do. He glances at Harry, who is clutching his belly, and is then glancing out onto the field where he sees Louis rushing towards where he is standing. Flynn's eyes widen at the approach, and he quickly puts his hands up in front of himself defensively when he sees how dead set Louis is in coming after him. 

"What the fuck are you doing to him?" Louis snarls, pushing Flynn back aggressively. 

"I didn't do anything. He just started doing this, I swear." 

Louis hardens his eyes at Flynn before he's looking back at Harry. He sees the pained look on his face and quickly jumps over the railing so he can get in the seat next to him, already wrapping an arm around Harry's body and trying his best to calm him down. "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on? What's hurting?" 

"It's just my belly," Harry whimpers. He feels the shooting pain continuously in his stomach before it slowly starts to go away. Once Harry has the relief of not having the pelvic pressure and the pelvic pain, he finally opens his eyes and breathes a little better. He has tears built up in the corner of his eyes, and he begins wiping at them while Louis starts to stand to his feet. 

"We're going to the doctor," Louis concludes, reaching for Harry's free hand and helping him stand. "You should not be in this much pain, babe." 

Harry sighs and pulls Louis back towards him, keeping Louis in his spot rather than having him drag them up the steps. "Louis, honey, I'm fine. They're just contractions." 

Louis lifts and eyebrow, unconvinced. 

"I really just want to lay down if I'm being honest," Harry continues, smiling weakly when he sees Louis not budging. "I want to lay with you, and cuddle with you, and just do all that good stuff. I'm tired, and I'm pregnant. I'm fine."

Louis lets out a big breath of air and slouches, aimlessly glancing up the steps to see Zayn and Niall lingering around the top waiting for them to finish up. Louis licks his lips and nods his head. "Alright," he breathes out, looking back at Harry. "If you say you're fine - "

"I promise I'm fine," Harry interrupts. "Let's go home."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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 **HarryStyles:** No wonder I'm pregnant ... 

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 **GemmaStyles commented:** Gross. 

**//**

Harry spends the better half of his early morning turning and wiggling around on the bed trying to get himself in a comfortable position, but nothing seems to satisfy Harry longer than a few minutes. He's uncomfortable. And, he's pregnant, which means sleeping sucks now. His baby is pressing right up against his ribs, and it feels impossible to breath. He's fat now, so it's not like he can move around as easily, and to top it off, he's swelling up like a balloon. Harry's ankles are fat. Harry's wrists are fat. Harry's ass is fat. Harry is just fat, and he's uncomfortable, and having Louis wrapped around his back the way he currently is also not helping the situation because now Harry is sweating, and he's ready to get out of bed. 

Harry tosses the covers off his body and slowly removes Louis' arm and leg off of him. He creeps his way into the bathroom to freshen himself up before he's changing into some maternal leggings and a loosely fitted t shirt. Since hitting the third trimester, Harry is in all sorts of pain these days, and something his doctor, and therapist, had recommended was for him to start doing some stretches or pregnancy yoga. It's meant to help relax the muscles that are getting stretched out from his belly, but it's almost meant as a destressor for Harry to help keep him calm and relaxed enough to not trigger any pregnancy complications. So far, it's been working, and so far, Harry does feel better not having his back ache as much since first starting his morning yoga routine. He likes to grab his mat and put it over by the windows in the living room. Since they live on the top floor of the apartment complex, Harry gets the perfect view of the sun rising above the local neighborhood. It really is the best way to start Harry's morning, of course, aside from Harry waking up beside Louis, but this is a very close second. 

Harry begins his morning stretches by doing all the recommended poses the doctor had given him. He gets about halfway through his routine when Louis finally shows up. Harry is doing his one stretch where he hinges at the waist and tries touching his toes, really letting his back and his calves feel the stretch when Louis whistles from across the room. Harry lifts his head up at the sound and smiles at Louis leaning against the wall and watching him stretch, eyes noticeably looking right at Harry's ass.

"You know, you're quite the sight right now," Louis greets.

Harry giggles and slowly stands back up. "I'm doing my morning stretches. Don't make it sexual."

"How can I not when your ass looks _that_ good in those leggings." Louis has a smirk on his face as he walks up to Harry, arms wrapping around his waist and hands dipping low to grab his ass. Harry giggles again and buries his face against the crook of Louis' neck, loving the feel of Louis' touch on and around him. "Happy Birthday, baby," Louis then whispers into Harry's hair, pressing a kiss there before he's pulling back to look at Harry. 

"You can't just compliment my ass and then not do anything else about it. You know, I'm extra horny these days."

Louis lets out a loud cackle as he squeezes Harry's ass. "Don't I know it?"

"It's my birthday today, I think I deserve your dick." 

"Oh my goodness," Louis snorts out, shaking his head and dropping it down on Harry's shoulder. "You are a menace." Louis smiles as he pulls back, one hand reaching up to cup the side of Harry's face. "What happened to my innocent boy who was nervous to have sex?" 

Harry rolls his eyes to the side. "He finally _had_ sex." 

Louis continues to shake his head as he reaches down for Harry's hand so he can link their fingers together. He begins leading the two of them back into the bedroom and smiles when he hears Harry making a happy sound from behind him. Louis rolls his eyes and brings Harry back to their bed before he starts pressing kisses against his lips, hands mindlessly reaching down to the bottom of Harry's shirt so he can start bunching it up his chest. Harry practically mewls when he gets the feel of Louis' hands on his body and Louis' tongue in his mouth. He really wasn't kidding when he said he gets easily horny these days because as Louis steps closer to Harry's body, he can feel Harry's bulge resting against his hip where it's making it's appearance known through the thin fabric of Harry's leggings. As much as Louis wants to take his time with Harry and really appreciate how beautiful and pregnant he is, he knows he cant. They have guest coming over in a couple hours to celebrate Harry's birthday, and Harry's constant whining and begging makes Louis pick up his pace in getting Harry on his hands and knees in the middle of their bed. 

After Louis spends his time taking Harry apart, he leaves Harry in the bedroom to nap while he picks up around the house. He tries making himself presentable by throwing on some jeans and a t shirt, but with his hair a wild mess from Harry's fingers running through it, he figures wearing a hat might be what's best in hiding what exactly the two of them did before people showed up. Louis gets everything going by hanging up some happy birthday banners and a few balloons that Harry picked out. The bakery down the street custom made a cake for Harry's birthday that is pink and has a bunch of flowers so Louis sets that on the counter. Louis is just finishing up with getting everything set when he hears the buzzer to his apartment go off. Louis quickly grabs the remote to the stereo and turns the music on before he's rushing over to allow his guest inside the building. He lingers around the kitchen until there is a knock at the front door, and then he's walking over to open it up and greet whoever first showed up. 

"Hello, brother in law," Gemma greets, a bright smile on her face and a big, pink present in her hands. "Where's my actual brother?" She gives Louis a quick hug and is then walking inside, Chance standing behind her and following her in as well.

"He's taking a nap," Louis responds. 

Chance lifts an eyebrow and turns around so he can smirk at Louis. "What's he tired from?" 

Gemma snickers from behind him, and Louis is thankfully saved from answering the question when he hears another knock at the door. 

"Gotta answer that," Louis quickly dismisses. Louis smiles when he sees Robin and Anne in the doorway, each with their own present in hand, Jay, Dan and all of Louis' sisters following in behind. He gets even more happy when all of his and Harry's friends end up scrambling out the elevator together talking loudly and being rowdy. Niall and Ellie show up together with a gift bag - Liam and Sophia with a silver, sparkly box - and then Gigi and Zayn walking in together each with a small present in hand. Louis greets them all and is then ushering them inside the flat so they can get the celebration in. 

"Where's Harry?" Niall then questions after searching the room and not seeing the birthday boy anywhere. He has a frown on his face as he settles his eyes back on Louis, pouting a little. 

"Yeah, where did you say Harry was again?" Chance questions with another smirk. 

Gemma laughs. "That's right, he's napping."

Louis hardens his eyes, ready to make a snarky comment of his own, but he's silenced again when he hears the door of their bedroom creak open. Louis breathes out in relief when he turns around to greet his fiancée, but he tenses up when he sees that Harry had done little to no effort in trying to freshen himself up after them having sex. Harry's hair is still a complete mess, his lips puffy and cheeks flushed red. Harry's green eyes are still glossed over, and with the loose shirt that is hanging off his shoulder, it makes the love bite on his neck completely noticeable. Louis brings a hand up to his forehead and groans when he hears Chance and Gemma bursting out into laughter. 

"There's the birthday boy," Lottie says with a smile. 

Harry smiles in return and glances around the room to take in everybody that is there. "Hey, guys," he yawns, slowly making his way towards Louis and falling in to his arms. Harry sighs once Louis gets an arm around his waist. 

"How was your nap?" Louis questions privately to Harry, pressing a kiss against the side of his head as he nuzzles Harry closer to his body. 

Harry hums and rests his head on Louis' shoulder. "It was nice," he responds, hand coming down to rest on his belly. "We wish you were there though." 

Louis presses another kiss to the side of Harry's head before he's guiding the both of them into the living space where everyone else is gathered around. Harry stops to give his hugs to all their friends and family before he's taking the open arm chair by the window. Harry relaxes once he's off his feet and lets out a breathy sigh when he feels all the tension from standing start to ease up. Louis walks over to join him by sitting on the arm of the chair, fingers reaching out to run through Harry's tangled curls. 

"So how's you're bum, by the way?" Chance then questions, wiggling his eyebrows as Gemma lets out a loud cackle. 

"Quite content," Harry mumbles out, rubbing his hand mindlessly over the top of his belly. "A little sore," he adds on.

Louis lets out a groan and _has_ to look away from both their mothers when he sees the two of them widen their eyes. Lottie and Fizzy grimace and immediately go to cover their ears while the majority of their friends, besides Niall, start laughing. Niall just grimaces. 

"Please, keep that to yourself," Niall complains. 

Harry rolls his eyes. "It's not a secret," Harry grunts in return, pointing at his big belly. "Hello, I'm pregnant because the two of us have sex all the time." 

"You could at least do a better job at hiding it," Gemma argues, laughing alongside Chance. 

Harry shrugs. "What's there to hide?" 

"Okay, that's enough out of everyone," Anne finally interrupts, shaking her head. "Not the conversation to be having when he have little ears around." Anne hints her comment by looking over at the twins. 

"I don't think that should be the only reason," Lottie complains. "No one wants to hear about it because it's disgusting."

"I agree," Niall chimes in. 

"Let's just get on with the presents," Jay chimes in. "I'm sure Harry is ready to get some cake." 

Harry nods his head eagerly and sits up in his seat so he can open his presents faster so he can get to the cake quicker. He gets all the presents deposited at his feet and excitedly begins opening each one up. The majority of his gifts are baby clothes or decorations - which, everything he got was super cute, of course, but there was something deep in his stomach that left him feeling slightly disappointed. He loved the onesies that his family had gotten him with super cute sayings on the front, and he really likes all the baby books and baby girl decorations that he can't wait to actually do and hang in his daughter's room, but with all the gifts that were given to him, nothing was actually meant _for him._ Harry got diapers, he got cute baby dresses. There were some stuffed animals and blankets. Some small things like bottles and bibs. Harry got everything he needed in order to help take care of his daughter, but call him selfish and a narcissist, but he was kind of looking forward to this day being all about _him_ and getting presents that he could use for _himself_. Harry had even made a list on what he was wanting for his birthday. Harry wanted new clothes, new jewelry, a new camera, some new shoes - just things for him, and he got none of that. Everything he got was for his baby girl, and of course he loved it all and appreciated the help his friends and family are giving him, but still, Harry wanted this one last celebration to be all about him before the baby comes and has everything focused on her. 

Harry does his best to remain happy and enjoy his time with all their friends and family, but he can say that was relieved when everybody finally left. He tried to hide his disappointment by wearing a smile for most of the night, but right when the last of them had finally left, Harry slouched against the cushion of his chair and pouted. Louis notices almost instantly, and he ends up walking over to Harry and cupping both sides of his face. 

"What's the matter, sunshine?" 

Harry sighs and looks down at his belly, frowning. "It's nothing," he mumbles" 

Louis tsks and lifts Harry's face up. "It's obviously something. Your cute lips are pouting at me right now." 

"It's stupid." 

"Nothing you feel is stupid to me." 

Harry blows a raspberry past his lips and gently pulls his head away from Louis' hands. "Well, today is my birthday," he begins, to which Louis snorts in response to. 

"Yes, baby. The banner hanging above the fireplace gave that away." 

"Shut up," Harry complains, playfully hitting Louis' chest. "I'm saying that today is my birthday, and like, I do appreciate all the gifts everyone got for me - for our baby - but I kind of wish there was something for me - that today was more about me. I know that is selfish, but ... " Harry pauses to shrug, looking at his belly again. "I got nothing." 

Louis hums thoughtfully, reaching for Harry's chin again and angling towards himself. "You haven't gotten all your presents today," Louis reminds with a growing smile. 

Harry perks up. "Really?"

Louis quickly leans in to press a kiss to Harry's lips before he's rushing away towards the bedroom. He spends a couple seconds reaching for the box he had hidden in his closet and is then rushing back into the living room to join Harry at his seat. Louis has a smile on his face as he hands the box out for Harry to grab, biting his lip when Harry starts to tear apart the wrapping paper. 

Upon opening the box, Harry gasps when he sees what's inside. 

"Louis," he breathes out, tears springing to his eyes. "You got all this for me?" he questions. Harry ends up pulling out a smaller box that has a diamond bracelet on the inside. He's about near on the verge of tears as he twirls the bracelet around between his fingers. "This is beautiful, Louis." Harry sniffs. 

"There's more."

Harry licks his lips and sets the bracelet down on top of his thigh, smiling bright as he goes back to the bigger box to see what else is inside. The next thing he pulls out is a rose ring, and Harry lets out a watery giggle as he goes to put it on his pointer ring. "Oh my gosh," he breathes out, biting his lip and going back to the box. The next things he begins pulling out are more items for himself, including things like new blouses, a brand new camera, and a couple gift cards to stores that Harry enjoys shopping at. After Harry unveils everything in the box, he has a bright smile on his face, blinking his watery eyes up at Louis. "You got all this for me?" he questions breathily. 

"I do listen to you, baby." 

Harry wipes under his eyes and laughs. "It's a good thing I'm marrying you then, huh?" 

"Speaking of." Louis steps away from Harry and does a quick jog into the kitchen so he can pull something out the drawer by the sink. Once he gets a couple brochures in his hand, he goes back to Harry and hands them off. "Take a look at these." 

Harry raises his eyebrows and sets all his things to the side so he can grab what Louis is handing to him. "These are wedding locations," Harry mutters under his breath, lips curving up. 

"Yeah, I figured we better start looking and planning things out. My mum found a good wedding planner for us, but I think after little one is born, we pick out a location you want to get married at."

Harry doesn't mean to start crying, but he does. Tears begin pouring down his face as he stares at all the brochures that Louis had picked out for him, and he doesn't know if it's the fact that Louis is already wanting to plan things out for the wedding or the fact that Louis cares about what location Harry wants for their wedding that makes him emotional, but he is, and now the tears are flowing freely down his face. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" Louis questions, concerned, a frown set on his lips as he bends closer to Harry and cupping the side of his face. "Is it too soon to start thinking about our wedding day? We don't have to look at anything right now." 

Harry begins shaking his head and wipes under his eyes, sniffing. "No, it's not that," he mumbles weakly.

"Then what is it, love?"

"We're about to have a baby," Harry admits, nibbling on his lip. "And like - it's going to be _all_ about her, and I hate sounding so selfish and whiny, but I like having your attention on me. I like that it's just me and you. I like that its _just_ me for you, and now I have to share you. Now we're going to be focused on our baby, and I'm not sure if I am ready for that. I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a dad. For gods sake, I'm only twenty one years old, Louis, I don't know if I am ready for all of this."

Louis shushes Harry gently and presses a kiss to his forehead, using the pads of his thumb to wipe the tears away from underneath his eyes. "Baby, listen to me - I love you, so fucking much, okay? No matter what happens, no matter who's going to be around, you're always going to be the one on my mind. You're always going to have me be one hundred percent devoted to you. I know you're scared, H, I'm scared, too. We're going to have a little human to take care of now .. " Harry smiles. "That's fucking terrifying, but it's also fucking exciting. I mean, we're going to have a baby with beautiful brown curls, and gorgeous green eyes, much like her insanely beautiful father. It's okay to be scared. It's okay to start missing all the time we won't get to spend together, but think of this amazing journey that we get to experience ... _together._ It's you and me, baby, forever. It's always going to be you and me, and you're going to make such a great husband and a great father, and I can't wait to remind you every single day for the rest of my life how much I love and adore you - how much you inspire me to be a better man, and Harry, no matter how busy or crazy our lives get, you will always be on my mind."

"Fuck, Louis," Harry complains with a laugh, closing his eyes and smiling when more tears rush to the surface. "You can't say that stuff to me right now. You know it makes me cry."

Louis giggles and leans forward to press his forehead against Harry's. "I'm just telling you the truth, dear."

"I can't wait to start my forever with you, Louis Tomlinson."

**//**

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//

Harry wishes it didn't come down to this, but he and Louis end up going to see the Doctor when Harry had another round of pain shooting through his belly. 

It started off as a quiet morning, Harry and Louis laying in bed and watching a movie. They had been kissing and cuddling, periodically getting handsy with one another when Harry winces in pain. It was soft at first, just a small pain that starting in his upper abdomen before it intensified and went all the way down to his groin. Harry tried his best to bite back the whine that he wanted to belt out, but when the pain kept persisting, Harry was in tears. It didn't take long for Louis to drive the both of them to the doctor and get Harry worked in so they could take a look.

So now they are in the room, Louis' hand clutching on to Harry's while Dr. Walls spreads some ultrasound gel on Harry's stomach before rolling the machine to the side of the bed. 

"So, this pain has been going on for awhile?" Dr. Walls questions while she puts Harry's information into the machine. 

"It's been going on for awhile," Louis answers for him, worriedly, squeezing Harry's hand for his own comfort. "It's enough to bring him to tears and for him to stop what he's doing."

Dr. Walls hums and glances at Harry. "You didn't consider coming in sooner or giving the office a call?" 

Harry opens his mouth to respond, but again, Louis is speaking up instead. "No, he refused," Louis huffs. "I kept trying, but he blew it off as contractions." 

"Will you shut your trap? She's asking me, not you," Harry complains, removing his hand from Louis' and placing them on his chest. 

It's safe to say Harry and Louis aren't the happiest with one another right now. 

Louis huffs, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I'll shut my trap when you start using yours. You're pregnant Harry, you can't just blow this shit to the side." 

"I can't ever get a word out because you're so damn loud, and you never shut up." 

"Okay," Dr. Walls interrupts, as calmly as she can, trying to divert the attention to the ultrasound machine. She begins running the doppler over Harry's belly until she's finding what she wants. "I see," she mutters more to herself, freezing the image on the screen so she can take measurements and pictures. 

Harry feels a cold, unsettling shiver run down his spine when he tries to decipher what it is Dr. Walls is looking at, and out of instinct, he grabs Louis' hand again. 

"Upon seeing how low your placenta is laying, Harry, it looks like you have placenta previa." 

...


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're hitting the downward slope of the story now \: It's so crazy that this was the first ever long story I had ever written back in the day, and it's honestly one of my favorites. It's been through a lot of changes, edits, and fixes, but finally, I think it's at a point where I can finally be done with it and move on to other stories (: 
> 
> Love everyone who took the time to read or reread this story. It means so much that you guys are here <3

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//

Harry should know Google is not the best place to look at after being diagnosed with something, but, he couldn't help it. Placenta Previa - the name alone sends a cold shiver down Harry's spine, but then after reading everything that can come with this, he's even more terrified for what he's about to walk in to. At the start, Dr. Walls warned Harry the increased risk of any sort of pregnancy complication since he is a male carrier, but since the majority of Harry's pregnancy had ran smoothly, he really thought he would be able to go the rest of the way without any issues. Boy, was he wrong.

Harry learns that Placenta Previa is when the baby's placenta is lying low in the uterus and covering up the mother's cervix. Now, Harry doesn't exactly have a uterus nor a cervix, but the sac his pregnancy had created in his belly that is helping the baby live and grow is much like a uterus inside of a female. The only issue with Harry is that he doesn't have a vaginal opening to lead into his faux cervix, instead, he has a penis, and there are already so many risk factors getting closer to his due date with the baby dropping into the penal canal. This is not only life threatening to the baby, but it's also life threatening to the Harry. With the baby's placenta lying low, it's running the risk of entering Harry's penal canal and causing severe complications and the potential of hemorrhaging. Dr. Walls didn't seem too concerned when first noticing the placenta lying very low in Harry's stomach, but she did have to alter any birth plans that Harry and Louis had already been talking about. The doctor wants to avoid pre-term labor or any sorts of hemorrhaging as best as possible, and the only way she can do this is by making sure Harry does not go into labor on his own and by doing a C-Section to prevent the baby from trying to push itself and the placenta through Harry's penis. Harry already runs a risk of pregnancy complications since being a pregnant male, but now that he has a placenta lying low inside of him, his risk nearly triples.

So, great, and on top of that, Louis is still very upset with Harry for not taking his pain a little bit more seriously. They could have ran into some fatal issues had Louis not nearly dragged Harry to the office as quick as he did. Louis is thankful enough they were able to catch the issue causing Harry's pain when they did, but if he had gone another few weeks or so just playing this abdominal and pelvic pain off, then who knows what would have happened.

Harry has a frown on his face as he sits on the opposite end on the couch to Louis. It's been a constant game of silence and passing each other in the house. Harry knows he fucked up by not speaking about this to Louis and by not bringing this to Dr. Wall's attention sooner, but the last thing he wants to deal with right now is having his fiancé mad at him for it when they are literally _weeks_ away from having their baby born. Harry gets why Louis is upset - hell, he's even upset with himself for letting this go on for as long as it has - but he's just tired at this point, and emotional, and he really wants Louis' attention on him again so they can enjoy the little time they have left of it just being the two of them. Harry spends the next couple of minutes trying to build up the courage to say something - _anything_ \- just to get Louis to look at him, but his confidence is lacking, and his words keep getting stuck in his throat anytime he feels even an ounce of courage to speak up. It's not like Louis is being mean to him or completely avoiding him, but ever since they left Dr. Walls office after arguing with one another about the whole situation, they just stopped talking. Louis apparently talks too much, and Harry apparently doesn't talk enough, and that has become and apparent issue at this point. 

Harry gives it another attempt as he lets out a slow, steady breath, blinking over at Louis nervously. "Louis," he whispers, a little shaky, biting his lip when Louis turns his head towards him. "I'm sorry," he then apologizes, deflating in his spot as he says it. "I didn't mean to make you mad." 

Louis breathes deeply out his nose as he scoots closer to Harry. "I'm not mad at you," he eases, hand reaching out to place on Harry's thigh. Harry blinks, unconvinced. "I'm not, I'm just - I was worried. I know trying to decide if what you're feeling is normal or not is hard to do when being pregnant, but if you knew this pain in your stomach was very unbearable, I just wish you would have spoke up sooner about it. I wish I would have recognized it sooner, to be honest, or just dragged you to the doctors when I first noticed it." 

Harry feels tears rising in his eyes. "I don't want anything to be wrong with me," he admits shyly under his breath, letting out a heavy sigh as he goes to wipe his eyes. "I thought, if I could brush this aside, then nothing would come about it. I didn't want to be the one who overreacted to things. I didn't want there to be any problems." 

"I know, sweetheart, but when it comes to being pregnant and you two's health, it's not something you can brush aside. It's something we genuinely have to keep an eye on because male pregnancies already have risks in itself so we can't bypass even the smallest of things."

Harry deflates, nodding his head in agreement. "You're right," he mutters. "I'm so sorry, Louis." 

"Come here," Louis smiles, reaching his arm out to invite Harry to get closer to him. Harry bites his lip and scoots closer into Louis' side, tucking his legs underneath his body and leaning against Louis' chest. Harry hums once he gets into position, arms going around Louis' waist and head resting on Louis' shoulder. Louis then bends down to press a kiss to Harry's forehead. "You know, we're getting closer to your due date," Louis notes. 

Harry smiles widely. "We are." 

"We should probably think about baby names." 

"Really?" Harry preens, lifting his head off Louis' shoulder and turning to look at Louis happily. 

Louis nods. "Give me some names." 

"I really like flower names," Harry admits, biting his lip and resting his head back on Louis' shoulder. "I was thinking about Dahlia or Lilac - Maybe Hazel." Louis chuckles under his breath. Harry frowns and playfully slaps Louis' chest. "Don't make fun of me. You know I love flowers."

"I know, love, I know." Louis presses another kiss to Harry's forehead. "Okay, I'll tell you mine. _Uh_ \- I was thinking about uncommon names, maybe Addison or Emerson. I also like Luna. I think it's pretty."

Harry hums, thoughtfully. "Those are pretty." 

"I was also thinking about adding our mother's name somehow." 

Harry feels his cheeks heating up in an unusual blush, mindlessly curling deeper into Louis' side. "You've thought a lot about this," he notes, smiling goofily into Louis' neck. 

"I also thought about Claire," Louis adds as an afterthought, running his hand up and down Harry's back before resting it on his belly. "I know how much she meant to you, and how she's given us this miracle baby so I figured giving our daughter a part of her name would be a good way to honor her." Harry suddenly feels tears in his eyes. "Of course, with our other children, we can incorporate our mother's name then, but I think Claire would be good for this one." 

Harry has a lump in his throat as he pulls his head away, shimmering green eyes looking back into Louis' blue ones. "You want more children with me?" he wonders breathlessly. 

"I want everything with you." 

Harry's lips curve up, and he laughs wetly at thought of having more children with Louis. It's like a dream come true knowing he and Louis are already on their first child, but with Louis saying he intends on having more, it just makes Harry's heart feel a thousand times more loved. 

"So, Claire as a middle name?" Louis then questions after a second, reaching up to caress the side of Harry's face, smiling when Harry's nose scrunches. 

"I like it." 

Louis swallows. "What about Lilac as a first name?" 

"Lilac?" Harry whispers, eyes widening a little. "You don't want one of your names to be the option?"

Louis shrugs, running his fingers through Harry's curls. "I think if we want to honor Claire then the best way to do that is name our child after yours and Claire's favorite flower. A Lily." 

"Lily," Harry repeats, pinching his bottom lip between two fingers. 

"Lillian Claire?" Louis tests out, a growing smile on his face when he starts to see more tears rising in Harry's eyes. "Are those happy or sad tears?" 

Harry laughs wetly and begins wiping his eyes. "It's happy," he responds, giggling. "I love that name, Louis. It's perfect." 

"Looks like our baby girl is going to be named Lillian Claire."

//

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//

Louis had been training all morning with Chelsea so instead of Harry lounging around the flat by himself, he invited Niall and Zayn to keep him company. 

"So, Haz," Niall calls out, laying on the opposite end of the couch to Harry. He has his feet propped on the coffee table and a bowl of popcorn resting on his belly. Harry picks his head up from where he was resting it on the back of the couch and turns to look at Niall, raising his eyebrow. "Have you and Louis thought of a name for my goddaughter?" 

"She's not your goddaughter," Zayn interrupts, lazily tossing a throw pillow at Niall. 

Niall frowns and deflects the thing. 

"We did," Harry responds with a smile, rubbing his hands all over his belly. "Lillian Claire." 

Both Zayn and Niall coo at the name. 

"That's beautiful, H," Zayn comments, smiling as well. 

"What about a wedding?" Niall then wonders, shoving his hand in the bowl and grabbing a large amount of popcorn that he can stuff in his mouth. 

Harry giggles when popcorn falls out of Niall's mouth, and he reaches out to grab those that fell so he can eat them himself. "We decided after Lillian is born," Harry answers with a sigh, reclining against the cushion, beckoning for Niall to give him some more popcorn. "Maybe in the summer or late spring."

"I still can't believe you're about to get married." Niall shakes his head with a sigh, setting the bowl of popcorn off to the side so he can tilt his head back to look at the ceiling. 

Zayn lifts an eyebrow. "Why? They've been together for a long time time." 

"I mean - it's crazy to think about how they started. Harry didn't even like Louis when they first met, and Louis was a complete ass. The last thing I ever expected was for this to happen if I'm being honest. I just think it's beautiful how much had changed within the past four years." 

Zayn smiles. "Yeah, Louis was an ass, but I'm glad at the person he became."

Harry never realized how much he and Louis had been through until thinking about it all in that moment. Harry was only sixteen when he first met Louis, and it wasn't in the best time in either of their lives. Harry remembers feeling an unusual discomfort any time he was around Louis, and it's crazy to think how quickly those feelings changed once he got a better look at Louis. Harry never though that five years later, he would be marrying the one boy he swore to himself that he would never give the time day, but, well, here he is - ring on his finger and baby in his belly. With all the crap Harry and Louis had been going through, Harry is so happy with how everything turned out. Harry's so happy that he and Louis had been through the worst of the worst together and is now living the best of the best together. 

The next couple of hours are spent with the three boys watching some movies until Harry knows Louis is heading home. Niall and Zayn end up leaving half an hour before Louis texts Harry that he's getting ready to leave the stadium. Harry's more than thankful that he didn't have to spend this day alone to mope about missing Louis. He was able to distract himself with the comfort of his friends and good movies on the telly. By the time Zayn and Niall are gone, there is a small mess that is left behind on the coffee table from all the snacks that Harry had been munching on throughout the day. He groans a little bit when he realizes his friends are too lazy to even help the pregnant one out with cleaning, but he keeps his complaining to a minimum so he can begin tidying up the mess that _he_ created. Harry gets most of the things on the table over towards the kitchen, but when he walks back out into the living room, he sees that his bowl of popcorn somehow made its way on the floor. Harry twists his lips to the side and mentally groans when he realizes he's going to have to find some way to pick it up. 

As Harry goes slowly to bend down to grab the bowl, he feels an uncomfortable twinge in his back, but then when he straightens up, there's a sharper pain running down his side. 

Harry lets out a deep breath when the pain rushes through so he slowly makes his way to the kitchen so he can set the bowl now. Harry knows his phone is on the island counter next to the pile of trash he had built up from his snacks. He knows the best thing to do right now is keep an eye on this small amount of pain he is currently feeling, but to avoid any complications arising like they did the last time Harry remained quiet, Harry figures he should give Louis a call to let him know that he's starting to feel this discomfort again.

Harry takes another step towards his phone, and thats when another deep shrill of pain hits him hard in his belly, so intense that he has to stop walking and grip the counter with a whine. "Fuck," he complains, clenching his eyes shut. Harry opens his eyes and lets out another deep breath when the wave of pain briefly passes, leaning over the counter and quickly reaching for his phone when the pain comes back just as quick. He immediately dials Louis' number, but, unfortunately, it goes straight to voice message. 

"Dammit." Harry groans as he cancels out of Louis' contact and begins dialing the number for Dr. Walls office, but before he can even press the first digit, he feels something wet running down his leg. Harry shrieks when the sharp pain continues prodding low in his belly and when a throbbing pelvic pressure arises in his groin. Harry fumbles the phone in his hands and ends up dropping it when he looks down to see blood starting to drip on the kitchen tile. Harry's eyes widen in fear when he realizes the blood on the tile is from himself, and the liquid he feels running down his leg is _actual blood_ as well, and before Harry has the time to freak out, he feels his head spinning and eyes going fuzzy.

Harry stumbles over his feet and tries to remain upright by gripping the edge of the counter as tightly as possible. He does his best to reach for his phone so he can call _somebody,_ but he's in too much pain to actually do anything other than to whine and clench his legs together. Harry's only saved because he suddenly hears the keys jingling from outside the flat, and Harry feels a big way of relief when the front door opens and Louis is walking through. Upon seeing the pain Harry is in, Louis drops his bag and runs over to him, getting his arms underneath Harry so he can collapse in Louis' arms. 

"Harry, what's going on? Are you bleeding?" 

Harry whines and closes his eyes, body going limp. "I-I tried calling."

Louis is frantic as he lifts Harry in his arms, breathing heavily as he frantically moves around to get all his shit together. "It's okay. It's okay. Let's just go to the hospital, okay?" 

"Louis, it's too early," Harry nearly cries, curling his head into Louis' neck and holding on tightly. "It's too early." 

Louis swallows and decides to not make a comment, knowing that if he were to show how nervous and scared he was that it would just make matters worse. Instead, he rushes the two of them to his car and drives them off towards the hospital. He keeps his hand locked in with Harry's and tries to keep him calm by whispering comforting words. At this point, all Harry can focus on is the blood that's leaking out of him and the excruciating amount of pain he feels all over his belly and pelvis. Louis is quick to pull his car right up the front doors of the hospital, taking the spot of any other emergency vehicles that might need to pull in. Instead, he rushes out his car, opens the passenger door for Harry, and slowly helps nudge him out the vehicle. Louis gets his arms around Harry's body and trudges the both of them inside the hospital's waiting room, Louis flagging down the closest nurse that does take notice of them. Upon noticing the commotion, Harry's cry of pain, and the blood beginning to stain Harry's pants, another nurse begins running towards the closest wheel chair to get it over towards Harry. 

"What's going on?" Nurse number one says, helping take some load off of Louis by getting on the other side of Harry. 

"I-I think he's labor," Louis panics, eyes frantically watching nurse number two help sit Harry on the wheel chair. "He's in pain, and he's bleeding, and is he in labor?" 

"He might be," Nurse one responds. She turns towards the other one and gives him a curt nod before the second nurse begins rolling Harry towards the back. Louis' eyes widen frantically, and he makes a move to run after the two of them, but the nurse in front of him quickly stops him from further passing. "Sir, please take a slow breath. We are going to quickly get your partner hooked to some IV's - we might have to deliver him today if the proceedings call for it." 

Louis lets out a shaky breath and runs his fingers through his fringe. "Deliver?" he questions frantically, biting his bottom lip. "It's too soon. He's not to full term yet." 

"We might have to ... " 

"Louis," he responds to the unasked question. 

"Louis, we might have to deliver him. Male pregnancies are at an increased risk of complications, and if baby is ready to come, then we have to make sure baby doesn't drop - it can be very fatal." 

Louis swallows, eyes brimming with tears. "Fatal?"

Louis is thankfully saved from having a complete breakdown in front of everyone in the waiting room because Dr. Walls is then walking past the emergency doors. Louis isn't sure if he's relieved or panicking even more, but Dr. Walls heads towards Louis' direction in her full surgical gear. Louis holds his breath as she steps in front of him. "It looks like we're having a baby today."

Louis' heart drops again. 

"It's too soon," he whimpers underneath his breath. "I-I need to tell our parents - our friends. We weren't prepared for this at all. We still have six more weeks." 

Dr. Walls takes another step closer and gets her hand on Louis' shoulder. "Don't worry Mr. Tomlinson, we will take good care of Harry and your baby, but if we do not deliver now, then things can take a turn for the worse. The safest thing for both is to do the c-section now. We can have our receptionist give a call to whoever you want, but we must go back soon if you want to be in the operating room with Harry." 

Louis lets out another shaky breath and follows Dr. Walls into the back. She leads him into a changing room where a clean set of surgical scrubs are hanging up. Louis takes a quick minute to just stare at himself in the mirror and attempt to remain as calm as possible. It's hard for Louis to process the fact that at any moment, he's about to be a dad. He's moments away from holding his little girl in his arms, and the thought alone is both frightening and exciting. They still had six weeks to prepare for everything. They still had six weeks to get the nursery ready - to get last minute baby supplies - to have a couple more parenting classes to help really prepare them for this moment, but instead, they're early. Their baby is coming too soon, and as Louis' shaky hands reach to take his clothes off, he realizes that he's completely freaking out, and he's not even the one who's about to give birth. His fucking fiancé is the one who is in pain right now. His fucking fiancé is the one who has a baby in his belly and about to get cut open to bring to bring their little girl into the real world. Louis doesn't realize he's crying until he has his scrubs on and the plastic cap on top of his head, staring at himself in the mirror and just doing his best not to pass out. 

Fuck, Louis really hopes he doesn't pass out. 

There's a knock on the door, and then a soft, "Mr. Tomlinson?" 

Louis jumps at the sudden sound and realizes it's time. It's fucking time to have a baby, and he needs to stop hiding in the fucking changing room. He needs to find his fiancé. He needs to find Harry and hold his hand so with a shuddery breath, Louis slowly exits the room, finding a nurse already waiting right there to bring him back to the operating room. Louis smiles weakly and follows behind the nurse, twirling his fingers in front of his body until he is stepping foot into room. Louis feels his breath get caught in his throat when he sees Harry laying on the bed, arms spread out to the side and his stomach out on full display. There's a divider on Harry's chest that prevents him from actually looking at his belly and the tools that will be used to puncture his skin. His head is lolling from side to side where he has it laying on a pillow, eyelids opening and closing due to the strong medication they are trying to sedate him with. Louis immediately rushes over to Harry's side and reaches for his hand, holding on tightly and pressing kisses along his knuckles. 

"You're doing great, love," Louis whispers privately, squeezing Harry's hand tightly when he sees the medical assistant beginning to wipe something across Harry's stomach. 

Harry clenches his eyes shut and whimpers. 

"Just squeeze my hand, darling, it's okay." 

Harry does as told and continues to whimper when there is a strong tugging feeling going deep in his abdomen. He tries to let the medication they have pumping through his veins do its job, but the sudden anxiousness of what's going on starts to overcome Harry. Harry's eyes fly open when he feels a sharp pain shooting through his belly again, and he tries turning the opposite way to get himself away from it, but he ends up causing more immense pain all over his body. Harry starts crying when the weight of everything happening becomes overwhelming. It is suddenly hard for him to breathe and sit still, and despite the fact that he is laying down, he feels like he's about to faint. Louis watches Harry with worried eyes as he flicks back and forth between him and to what Dr. Walls is doing. His eyes then trail over to the heart monitor when he hears it starting to pick up speed. 

"He's going into shock," a nurse calls out, stepping away from Dr. Walls to go grab something off to the side. 

Louis' eyes widen frantically, and he turns to look at Dr. Walls. 

"Put him under," she informs, calmly working on her incision on Harry's belly. 

Harry is thrashing as the nurse bring over an oxygen mask connected to some machine. Louis isn't sure what exactly is going on or what they're about to do to Harry, but he feels it right on the tip of his tongue to refuse whatever they are about to do to Harry without explanation. However, before Louis can even get a word out, the nurse is covering Harry's nose and mouth with the mask, and Harry's once frantic, green eyes begin to flutter close, and the sudden sound of a baby screeching distracts Louis long enough to not put up a fight. 

Louis breathes in deeply as Dr. Walls holds the baby in the air as if she is presenting her to the room. Louis knows he has tears in his eyes because his vision suddenly gets blurry from the sight of his daughter now out in the living world. His one hand is still holding on tightly to Harry's, but the other goes to cover his mouth in a surprised gasp as a nurse cuts the umbilical cord from his baby. 

And the first thing Louis takes notice of when he catches sight of his daughter is that she has blue eyes - beautiful, blue eyes. 

//

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//

Their baby is taken away within minutes of her being born. Her lungs had not fully developed, and since she was born premature, they sought best to care for their daughter in the neonatal ICU. They have to keep her in an incubator to help her probably breathe and be fed. She can't maintain her own body temperature at this point, and her body weight is so light that Louis swears he could hold her in just one hand. She was so tiny from what Louis could see, and his heart hurts just the slightness because he didn't even get the chance to actually hold her yet. Louis was about to throw a fit when they had to take her to the intensive care unit almost immediately, but the doctor and nurses in the room reassured Louis that it's what's best for the health and safety of his baby's life. 

Louis' able to calm down only a little by the time the stress of the delivery had passed, but he still had to deal with the pressing matter of Harry now having to recover from everything that happened. He hasn't woken since delivery, and it's nearly been a day since the nurse first put the oxygen mask over his nose. Louis is lucky that their friends and family were able to make an appearance and linger around the waiting room until they get news on something. As of now, only Louis is allowed in the hospital room with Harry since he is still unconscious from delivery. Every now and then, Louis would leave the room just so he could walk over and check on his baby, watching the other nurses handle the tubes and the incubation settings so that his daughter can properly function now that she is out in the real world. It's still so crazy how fast his entire day had changed. He woke up thinking all he had to do was go to practice and then come home to watch movies with Harry - not once did he actually think that he would come home and rush the two of them to the hospital to have a baby, but now, here they are. There she is. 

After spending some time watching his baby girl, he heads back into Harry's room so he can be there for whenever he finally wakes up. He takes resident in the arm chair next to the hospital bed Harry is laying on and reaches for his limp hand, tangling their fingers together and resting it comfortably on the side of the mattress. Soon after, a neonatal nurse is walking in, one that has been taking care of their daughter since she was first pulled out of Harry's stomach. 

"Hi, are you Mr. Tomlinson? Harry's husband?" 

Louis doesn't have the power in him to accurately correct her. They're married enough. 

"I am." 

The nurse smiles. "I wanted to give you an update on baby. I know you have been waiting around for a very long time for something, but we had to take some precautionary steps first just to ensure baby is okay and well." 

"That's ... fine," Louis swallows. 

"So, baby was born at around three pounds, but we were able to get her weight up to four pounds and 2 ounces. We would like her to reach up to at least five pounds so we know she is stable - six is at best. Her increase in weight in such a short amount of time is a great sign, but we will need to keep monitoring her until she does reach our desired weight gain."

"And her lungs?" Louis then wonders. 

"Lungs are still not quite there, but the tubes we have inside her are helping her breathe. They will develop as time progresses." 

Louis lets out a sigh, eyes trailing to the side so he can look at Harry's sleeping face. "When can we hold her?" 

"I would give it a couple more hours, and I think she will be ready to be held by her daddies. We are going to feed her, let her rest a little longer, and then we can wheel her in." 

Louis just nods his head in response. In all honesty, holding his baby girl won't be as amazing as he wants if Harry isn't awake to share the moment with him. It's been nearly a day - _a day_ \- since Harry delivered, and he is _still_ unconscious. Louis really doesn't want to sit there and worry about the fact that Harry's eyes are still closed, the nurses told him that it's common for people to take their time in waking up from going under like that - especially if he was going into shock, but Louis just wants Harry to be there, now. They are about to finally see their little girl in the flesh since Harry gave birth, and they will finally get to hold her in their arms, and all Louis wants for that moment is to see Harry awake and enjoying the moment with him. 

After spending the next few hours fading in and out of consciousness, waiting for something to happen, a nurse is finally walking into the room, rolling their daughter's incubator in as well. Louis perks up almost immediately at her arrival. 

"Her vitals are looking great," the nurse announces with a smile, rolling their baby all the way around the bed so she can be parked right in front of Louis. "She is safe to be held for a little bit. It's always good for preemies to get some contact with their parents to help their development."

Louis' eyes start to shimmer. "She probably needs Harry's touch, huh?"

The nurse smiles and nods. "Here, I'll get her for you." 

Louis feels giddy as he lets go of Harry's hand so he can prepare for their baby to be in his arms. The nurse is so careful as she transitions their baby from the incubator to Louis, hearing her cry in protest from having to be jostled. Louis coos almost immediately once he finally gets to touch his daughter, eyes watering up instantly when all he sees from looking down at her face are so many resemblances to Harry. 

"You're so beautiful," Louis whispers breathlessly, so baffled and shocked at how tiny she is. He holds her carefully against his chest with one arm and gently uses his free hand to run his finger across her smooth forehead. Louis laughs breathlessly when she sniffles and rolls her eyes around to the back of her head. "I can already tell you and your daddy are going to give me a run for my money." Louis' lips quirk up, glancing over at Harry again. "Darling, wake up. I have someone who's ready to meet you." Louis glances back at his daughter when she makes a sound, and he runs his finger across the top of her head. "She has blue eyes, but I have a feeling they're going to turn green when she gets older. I can tell because they still look exactly like yours."

Louis blinks when the tears really have been building up in his eyes, and he just have to laugh because he still cannot believe he has a fucking daughter and he's a fucking dad. It's so unbelievable that his baby is right there in his arms, so tiny and fragile, barely able to keep her own eyes open. Louis just cannot stop staring at how beautiful she looks, at how much she looks just like Harry. He can already see a small swirl to the fringe she has on top of her head, and the way her bowed shape lips match almost identically to Harry is enough to make Louis' heart swell in size. Her nose is definitely Louis', that much is noticeable, and the color of her hair is more feathery and soft, similar to Louis' as well. Louis is just so mesmerized and obsessed that he cannot stop staring, and he cannot stop running his finger across her baby soft skin. He doesn't even notice that Harry has finally come to it and opened his eyes since he's distracted by the beauty in his hold, way too focused on his daughter who is nearly a carbon copy of the man who is lying right there next to him on the bed. Louis has the biggest smile on his face as he continues to watch all the unusual faces his baby makes, laughing whenever she makes a sound or whenever her eyes do something funny. Louis nearly gets lost in the moment of admiring his little girl until he hears a soft groan coming from beside him. 

"C-cute," is what Harry mutters as his greeting, blinking his eyes open and immediately scrunching his nose up. 

Louis turns his head towards Harry and smiles. "Hi, love." 

"Who's baby did you steal?" Harry questions groggily, still wincing and groaning now that he's awake and letting the past day finally settle deep within his bones. Fuck, he's really sore. 

"One we actually get to keep." 

Harry breaks out into the widest grin as the door to their room is being opened. Both Harry and Louis turn their heads to see Dr. Walls walking. "Hello, how are we doing, Harry?"

"Sore." Harry pouts, pressing a hand to his now flat belly. "Empty."

Dr. Walls smiles. "It's very common to feel all sorts of different once you have the baby. It will take some time getting adjusted to. Anyway, I was just coming in to check on the two of you and to inform you that you will be staying a couple more days in the hospital just to ensure you have properly healed from the surgery. I'm estimating by then, our new little girl will be stable enough to leave as well."

"Is there anything we need to watch out for with Harry since he had a c-section?" Louis questions curiously, hearing Harry hum beside. "Mainly for his recovery. I don't want his incisions to get ruined."

"We ask that you give yourself about eight weeks to fully heal from delivery, and at that time you will come in to the office so I can reassess how you are healing, but until then, keep things limited and restricted. Take care yourself. Let the wound heal on its own, and just make sure you are finding ways to properly cope now that you are no longer pregnant. We really like to keep an eye on postpartum depression and anxiety, and if it ever comes to the point where it is overwhelming, then please give the office a call."

Louis nods his head, earnestly. "Thank you so much Doctor. You have been the biggest help and comfort throughout this pregnancy. We can't thank you enough."

"Of course," Dr. Walls says with a smile. "I will let you two spend some more time with baby girl. I know the nurses might need to get her back in the incubator soon so I won't hold you up."

Harry and Louis smile as Dr. Walls leaves the room to give them some alone time. Once it is just the two of them and their little girl, Louis turns towards Harry. 

"You want to hold her?" he questions with a bite to his lip, seeing Harry immediately start to cry. 

"I do," he whimpers. 

Louis chuckles softly as he goes to stand on his feet. Harry slowly shifts himself on the bed so that he can be in a more upright position that will make it easier for him to hold their daughter. Once he gets situated, after groaning and moaning in protest, he carefully lets Louis guide their baby into his arms. Harry lets out a breathless laugh once he's finally holds her, tears springing to his eyes as he pulls her in close to her chest just so he can press a kiss to her forehead. 

"So precious," Harry whispers, falling in to the same state of surprise that Louis was in when he first held their daughter. "She's ours, Louis - she's ours." Harry's watery eyes flick up to meet Louis', and the two of them share a moment where they are just staring and smiling at one another, nothing else in the world mattering besides them and their little girl. Harry breaks eye contact first with a laugh so he can look at his daughter again, biting on his bottom lip as he runs his finger gently down the slope of her nose. "Lilian Claire," he whispers, heart thudding in his chest. "Lilian Claire Tomlinson," Harry then adds. 

Louis tenses. His heart swells, and his breath get's knock in his chest. 

"Tomlinson?" his voice cracks. 

Harry nods his head and smiles at Louis. "Tomlinson," Harry confirms, much clearer this time. 

"Are you sure?" Louis questions hesitantly, sitting on the edge of Harry's hospital bed. "Maybe a hyphened last name? Like, Lilian Claire Tomlinson-Styles?"

Harry giggles and looks back at their daughter. "No, I like it as just Lilian Claire Tomlinson." Harry presses another kiss to her forehead. "I want her to be a Tomlinson." 

Louis laughs nervously as he runs his fingers through his fringe. "Not that I oppose, dear, but we never really talked about taking my last name. It's kind of a big deal, H, and I always thought we would hyphen her name and then hyphen our names once we got married - not that Harry Tomlinson doesn't sound ravishing to me, it does, but _fuck_ Harry, this is a big decision to make, isn't it?" 

Harry shrugs lazily, glancing back at Louis. "Why would I want to be a Styles if it has little to no meaning for me. Tomlinson is a last name to be proud of. Our daughter should be proud to have it. I'm proud to have it. I'm proud to have you. We're the Tomlinson clan, Louis, it was always Tomlinson for me." 

Louis right about nearly has a heart attack from how much love is over consuming his heart. 

"Lilian Claire Tomlinson," Louis tests. "Harry Edward Tomlinson," he says next, a growing smile on his face. "I love them both."


	41. Chapter 41

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** loves of my fucking life. 

//

The room is eerily silent until there is a loud screech of a baby breaking through on the monitor. Upon hearing the wretched noise, Harry groans and buries his face into the pillow, trying his hardest to keep his eyes closed and get the rest that he so desiredly needs. Louis, on the other hand, removes his arm from around Harry's waist and turns on to his back. He groans in protest as well as he covers his eyes with his hands, knowing damn well that it is the middle of the night. His confirmation is unfortunately correct when he checks the time on his bedside clock to see that it is in fact four in the morning. 

"Haz," Louis mumbles, blinking his eyes shut. "S' your turn." 

Harry lets out a whine deep in his throat and shakes his head as best as he can. "I'm so tired, Lou," he complains, refusing to actually move or make an effort to attest the crying baby in the other room. 

"I am, too," Louis argues, sounding more awake than Harry does. Louis frowns as he rests up on his elbows to eyeball Harry's slumped form on the mattress. He groans when he realizes that Harry is way too dead to the world to actually get up, and although Louis only has three more hours until he has to get up himself to go to morning training, he knows that he will more than likely have to go care for Lillian. "You're really not getting up, huh?" 

Harry grunts. "Louis, please," he begs, flicking his eyes open just a little so he can make out Louis' figure in the dark. 

It's been a hard cycle of trying to take care of Lillian since they brought her home from the hospital. With Louis' tight schedule in Chelsea practices, and Harry's pain after delivery, it's been exhausting trying to be there for Lillian at odd hours of the day. They are only 6 weeks from delivery, so of course Lillian is at her neediest right now. She doesn't sleep through the night. She has trouble with being fed. She's always fussy, and Harry and Louis are just so fucking tired. Harry is still sore and experiencing some pain from the surgery, and Louis understands that some days might be harder than others when it comes to Harry actually getting up and doing something other than rest. However, Louis really can't take the work load of caring for their daughter at this time of night every day. With how strenuous his practices are with Chelsea, and with the influx of upcoming games, Louis needs his rest. Louis can't be spending odd hours of the night to change a diaper or give a bottle when he has to wake up at the ass crack of dawn the following morning. 

Really, it's been a full blown shit show since Lillian was born. 

"Louis, she's still crying," Harry complains after a moment, still hearing Lillian's loud screeches through the monitor. Harry groans as he turns on his side to get adjusted to a new position in sleeping. His eyes remain close as he gets himself more comfortable before he's settling with a content sigh. 

Louis lifts an eyebrow, slightly annoyed. "It amazes me that you can sleep for the entire fucking day and still have no energy to take your turn with Lillian. Fucking amazing." Louis makes a scene of throwing the covers off his body and scrambling off the bed. He's not the quietest as he goes to pull his pants over his legs and slipping his slippers on to his feet. He pads against the floor with a loud huff and slams the bedroom door on his way out because he's fucking tired, and he's fucking annoyed, and he just wished, for once, that Harry would get over himself and wake up to care for Lillian at four in the fucking morning. 

Louis walks across the hall and slowly makes his way into the nursery when the loud sound of Lillian's cries become more prominent. Louis winces at the sharp sound before he is cooing softly and making his way over towards her crib. He carefully gets his arms underneath her body with a gentle hand holding her head up as he brings Lillian close to his chest. He begins swaying his body softly and shushing Lillian down to just quiet whimpers, smiling to himself when Lillian's bright eyes finally settle on his face.

"Hi, Lily Bean," Louis greets, pressing a kiss to her nose. "No need to cry anymore. Daddy is here for you." Louis continues rocking Lillian from side to side in his hold when there is a sudden stench making its way into the room. At first, the smell is faint, enough to make Louis sniff a couple of times, but then it becomes stronger the longer he stands there, and he then begins to realize the horrid smell is coming from his own daughter. "Oh, shit," Louis grimaces, scrunching his nose. "I see why you're crying. You took a big dump in your pants, huh, little one?" 

Louis has to hold back the gag as the dirty diaper stinks up the room. He can now understand why Harry tries to void doing this because _phew,_ their daughter's shit does stink, and Harry has to clean enough of those diapers through out the day that when given the chance, Harry will make Louis do it. 

Louis walks over to the changing table and gently lays Lillian on her back. She continues to cry and squirm around while Louis attempts to undo her diaper. " _Lily Bean took a poop,_ " he begins to sing, noticing that her cries are beginning to reduce. " _But that's okay because she's really cute._ " Lillian altogether now stops her crying, and Louis has a big smile on his face as he goes about cleaning her without much hassle. "Oh, you like when daddy sings? Does this need to be a regular thing anytime you poop your pants?"

Lillian coos in response, Louis laughing quietly in return. He gets her all cleaned up and decides to just leave her in her diaper as he picks her up in his hold. He rests Lillian on his side and grabs the soiled pajamas so he can toss it in the bathtub to clean. It's probably not something he desires to do right this second, but he brings Lillian with him to the bathroom and runs some water over the clothes and drips some soap on top so it doesn't stain or make the room smell. He figures he can leave it like that over night and deal with it in the morning - or more like, make Harry deal with it. It can be his punishment for hitting snooze on the Lillian alarm. After Louis rinses off her dirty clothes, he walks over to the kitchen and goes straight to the fridge, not opposed for the two of them having a very late night snack since they are already wide awake. 

"Let's see, maybe we can have some milk to put you back to bed." Louis hums as he reaches a prefilled bottle of milk for Lillian and the carton of milk for himself. He puts the bottle of milk for Lillian in the microwave just so he can warm it up a little bit. In the mean time, he pours himself a glass of milk. Once both their drinks are ready, Louis grabs them and then walks back over to the nursery. 

They have a small arm chair set up in the corner of Lillian's room that Louis goes to take a seat in. He places his own glass of milk on the nightstand right next to his seat while he sets the bottle in between his leg and the cushion of the chair. He situates Lillian around so that she can be cradled in his arms, and once Louis gets her in a comfortable position, he brings the nipple of the bottle to her lips, smiling as she begins sucking down the milk. 

"Drink it all up Lily Bean, lets make Harry clean up your pile of shit in the morning."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Lillian Claire . xx

**//**

There is a loud, incisive buzzing coming from the other side of the bed, and when it continues on for minutes instead of being shut off, Harry groans in annoyance. 

"Turn it off," he complains, burying his head into his pillow and throwing the covers on top of himself, trying his best to limit the noise. Nothing works, and the buzzing continues. "Louis," he whines. This time, Harry outstretches his arm and begins patting the side of the bed that is next to him so that he can wake Louis himself, but when his hand lands flat on the cold spot of the mattress next to him, he pulls the covers off his head and looks up. 

Harry frowns once he sees for himself that he is in bed alone. He slowly rolls over on to Louis' side and ends up turning the alarm off himself. He's not entirely sure why Louis had it on in the first place, and being that it's early in the morning, Harry doesn't have the energy to properly think of reason. Instead, Harry pads off into the bathroom and attempts to get himself ready for the day without drawing too much pain from his incision. He has to move slowly as he changes his clothes, wincing every now and then when he has to wiggle his way into an over sized shirt. He pauses mid way when he notices his belly in the mirror, seeing the small pudge at the bottom on his stomach and the puffy incision scaring his skin. Harry ends up turning so he's facing the mirror head on, using one hand to hold his shirt up and using the other to run his fingers across his bloated belly. Harry has a pout on his face as he continues looking at this, already feeling the urge to cry the longer he sees how flabby and unfit his whole upper body looks. It takes Harry a lot longer this time around to get dressed because his stomach insecurities get the best of him, but once he finally gets his clothes on, he exits the bedroom and makes his way towards the nursery. 

As Harry approaches the doorway to the nursery, he lets out a breath of fresh air upon the sight he walks up to. He sees Louis on the arm chair, slumped to the side with Lillian resting against his chest. There's a blanket draped underneath Lillian, resting atop Louis' legs, and as Harry takes a step inside the room to go wake the both of them, the floorboard creeps under his feet, and Louis' eyes begin fluttering open. 

"Morning, babe," Harry greets, stopping where he stands to lean against the wall, a chirpy smile on his face while Louis' situates himself in an upright position, groaning when his neck twinges in pain. 

"What time is it?" Louis grumbles under his breath, wiping his eyes, making sure not to jostle a sleeping Lily in his arms. 

Harry purses his lips and checks the time on his watch. "Half past seven."

Louis' eyes widen in shock. "What the hell?" He questions loudly, springing up to his feet and rushing over to Harry so he can Lillian over to him, Lillians eyes opening at the sudden movement. "It's half past seven and you're just now waking me up? What the fuck, Harry?" Louis stomps his way out the room and nearly runs over to the bedroom. 

Harry raises his eyebrows as he cuddles Lillian close to his chest, following Louis into their bedroom. "Louis, what's going on? Why are you so angry, you know we try not to cuss in front of Lily." 

"You've got to be kidding me," Louis belts out. He quickly yanks clothes from the hangers in his closet to stuff inside his bag before he's abruptly turning around to face Harry, scowl on his face. "Maybe I'm angry because your lazy ass didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to care for your daughter so I had to, and now I'm late to practice, Harry. I'm fucking late because of you." 

Louis grabs some more clothes and storms past Harry. 

"Wait, how the hell is it _my_ fault that you are late?"

Louis rolls his eyes and quickly changes into his practice clothes. "Because you're being bloody selfish about not getting up to care for her. I barely got any sleep last night because of it." Louis grabs his bag once it's made and walks into the bathroom. 

"You're calling me selfish?" Harry argues in return, cradling Lillian close to his chest when she begins to squirm. Louis laughs bitterly. "Louis, I carried your child for nearly seven months, don't call me bloody selfish for needing some rest when I haven't had any since I first found out I was pregnant. You acting daft right now."

Louis rolls his eyes. "That's not the point, Harry. The point is that you _never_ fucking get up in the middle of the night to go check on her. That's my bloody point, Harry."

"Okay?" 

"Okay?" Louis mocks, offended, blowing air past his lips. Harry notices the shade of blue in Louis' eyes do get darker, an unfamiliar color that Harry is not used to seeing directed towards him. It makes Harry take a small, hesitant step back, seeing a side of Louis that hasn't appeared in a very long time. The vein on the side of Louis' neck is nearly popping out, and his skin is starting to flush red. "Harry, I still have to practice and train. I still have games I have to prepare for. I'm gone all day doing my bloody job, and I'm _exhausted_. I'm bloody exhausted, and having to get up in the middle of the night _continuously_ doesn't make anything better. We're parents, Harry. We're supposed to be doing this together. It's not a one sided thing where I have to bust my ass all day at practice and then come home to bust my ass at random hours of the night to be the parent you don't want to be. I'm sick of it."

Louis grabs his toothbrush and begins brushing his teeth aggressively. 

"Don't talk to me like that, Louis Tomlinson." 

Louis' brows furrows together in anger, spitting the paste into the sink before he slams his hands on the counter. "I need you to talk stopping," Louis warns in a very slow, hesitant voice, eyeballing Harry through the mirror. 

It's then that Harry realizes that Lillian is crying, and he's beginning to cry as well. Everything seems to be building up, and Harry really isn't sure how the three of them even got to this point. He has Louis standing there in front of him, absolutely livid and directing all of his anger towards Harry. It's not something Harry is used to, and it's one of the first times in Harry's life that he genuinely doesn't feel _safe._ Harry cradles Lillian closer to his chest and takes another step back, putting even more distant between the two of them, trying his best to quiet Lillian from her loud wails. 

Louis turns around from the counter and curls his finger into a balled fist. "You have not been waking up in the middle of the night _every_ night since she's been born to take care of her, _I have_." Harry flinches at the sharpness of Louis' tone. "I haven't even gotten to properly sleep through the night because _you get to_. It's not fair. You're being a horrid partner to me and a horrid father to Lily. This is fucking bullshit, Harry. This is the last thing I want to deal with right now, and I have to go so enjoy your fucking day off." 

Louis grabs his duffle bag and storms past Harry. Harry doesn't bother to many any further comments because Louis has already stormed out the flat by the time Harry follows in his footsteps. 

"Fu...dge," Harry semi curses. Lillian is still crying in his arms so he cradles her close and begins bouncing her in his hold. It's enough to reduce her to quieter sobs, but the overwhelming events of the morning do take a big emotional toll on Harry, and he ends up having his own tears running down his face. Harry sighs as he uses one hand to wipe away the tear droplets that are staining his cheeks. He notices that once he actually attends to his own cries, Lillian has completely quieted down. Harry sniffles and glances down at her, seeing bright blue eyes widely looking back at him, almost curiously. Harry laughs wetly. "I'm so sorry, Lily Bean," He says quietly to her. Lillian coos. Harry smiles. "I don't want to be a bad daddy to you. I didn't mean to." 

Harry blows air past his lips and glances at the closed front door, feeling a heavy weight settle in his heart when he realizes just how upset Louis truly is with him. He didn't mean for things to get this way since coming home from the hospital, but Harry hasn't felt the same. Harry's exhausted, and he's emotional, and he doesn't know what to do to handle everything that's been thrown at him. Of course, Harry wants to care for his child. Of course, he wants to help Louis at crazy hours of the night, but there's just the small inkling inside of Harry that makes him hesitant to do so. There's something about being the only one to wake up at three in the morning that genuinely frightens Harry. What if he's too tired to lift his daughter up? What if he accidentally bumps her head against the wall because it's too dark? What if he falls asleep on top of her? It drives Harry crazy with all these worried thoughts that are rushing through his mind, and then on top of it, he's sore. His whole stomach is insanely sore, and the thought of having to move around and jostle the incision just makes him feel sick. THere's a lot going on, and Harry knows Louis has a lot on his plate right now, but truth be told, Harry is anxious, and he's worried, and as he stands there alone in the flat, with Lillian pressed close to his chest, he can't help but think of the million and one things that could go wrong with him being there by himself. 

"Okay," Harry breathes out, more for his own comfort. He really doesn't know how he's made it the past couple of days with being alone and caring for Lillian. As much as he loves his daughter and spending time with her, it stresses him out. He wishes he could have Louis by his side helping him, calming him, relaxing him - easing all these worrying thoughts from his mind. "Okay," Harry ends up repeating again, noticing that Lillian is fading in and out of sleep. Harry smiles down at her and is able to breathe a little better knowing she probably could be put down for a nap. "Are we still sleepy, Lily Bean?" He questions her, already walking back towards the nursery. "Let's change your nappie and then take a little sleep. I bet your crib is much comfier than my arms." 

Harry takes Lillian over to the changing station and gets her a fresh diaper. All she's done in her current one is pee so it's not too much work to get her cleaned. He puts her in a dressing gown that is covered in bunnies and then walks over to the arm chair to take a quick seat in. He cradles Lillian close to his chest and presses a binky in between her lips, a frown on his face as he watches her eyes flutter carefully. 

"I'm not too bad of a parent, am I?" he questions rhetorical, eyes filling with tears again. Harry sniffs and begins wiping under his eyes again, feeling his heart starting to quicken in pace. "I try not to be," he continues with a pout. "I'm just nervous, Lily Bean. I don't want to mess up when I'm alone, and I don't want anything bad to ever happen to you." 

Lillian's eyes begin to completely close, and her sucking on the binky slows down. Harry smiles down at her precious face and runs a gentle finger along the curve of her jaw. Her skin is so soft and smooth, and everything about her is so frail and fragile. She genuinely looks the perfect mixture of him and Louis, but he definitely sees more resemblance of himself over Louis. Harry sighs after watching his little girl sleep before he's standing to his feet and moving to put her in the crib. He makes sure that there is nothing obstructing in the way that could risk her from not being able to breath, and he then places Lillian on her back and leans down to press a kiss to her forehead. After Harry makes sure she is safe and sleeping, he checks the baby cam that is facing her and is then walking out the room. 

Harry heads over to the couch where a baby monitor is already sitting on the coffee table. Harry makes sure that he has the screen facing himself as he goes to pull his phone out of his pocket. He immediately dials Niall's number. 

"E'llo," is the greeting Harry receives, and every ounce inside of Harry is just hoping that Niall is available to come over.

"Are you working today?"

"Nah, mate, just lounging," Niall answers. Harry lets out a relieved breath. "You need some company?" 

Harry loves that Niall just _gets it._

"Please," Harry begs quietly. 

"Give me ten, and I'll head over." 

Harry hangs up the phone after saying goodbye and feels so many times better knowing that Niall is able to come over. It's something Harry has asked from him consistently for the past couple of weeks, and Harry loves that Niall never questions it. And if it's not Niall that can come, then usually Anne will head over to be there for him. It's comforting to know that Harry doesn't have to spend his days alone while Louis is off at practice. He appreciates that his mother is the most supportive in making sure he's feeling alright because she used to go through the same thing whenever she first had Gemma. It makes Harry feel a little less crazy and a little less like a head case to know that it's common to feel so emotional and anxious after delivering, and Harry wishes he could just get over it and enjoy his time with his new born, but it's hard for him when he constantly lives in the place of not feeling confident and always feeling worried. 

Harry is able to take a little bit of the edge off himself by busying himself with breakfast. It's become routine that whenever Niall or Anne come over to help, he returns the favor with food. Of course, it's Niall's favorite gift to walk into. Today, the menu happens to be pancakes and sausage, and when Niall walks through the front door to the smell of what's cooking, he lets out a content sigh. 

"What a great thing to walk into," Niall greets. Harry turns his head over his shoulder and smiles before he goes back to what he's doing, which is flipping a pancake in the pan. "You're the perfect wife, honey." 

Harry rolls his eyes. "Just grab the butter and syrup. Be useful." 

Niall does as told and puts it all on the island counter. Harry quickly finishes up with the pancakes and then sets two plates for the both of them. He gives Niall his food and places his own next to where Niall is sitting. He then walks over to the fridge and grabs the orange juice and two glasses before he's joining Niall again. 

"Does Louis have practice today?" Niall questions as he forks the pancake, seeing Harry nod in response. "How are you doing?" 

Harry swallows and looks away. "I'm okay," he attempts.

Niall is unconvinced. 

"You've been crying," he states the obvious, lifting an eyebrow when Harry buries his face with a sip of his orange juice. 

"It's just been a hard couple of weeks," is what Harry settles with, toying around with the sausage on his plate. He sighs. "I hate feeling the way that I do, but I can't help it. I don't want to do wrong by Lily, and I don't want to do wrong by Louis, but it seems like that's all I am doing right now. It fucking sucks." 

Niall hums, reaching out to hold Harry's shoulder. "Does Louis know how you're feeling? You know, feeling anything out of the sorts postpartum is real." 

"I haven't," Harry admits truthfully. "He doesn't even know that I stare at myself in the mirror everyday and cry at the way that I look." 

"Harry-" 

"And we just argue, all the time. Like this morning, we got in a fight about how much of a terrible father I am." Harry blinks when he feels the tears coming back, and he hates himself that he's been so easily susceptible to crying. 

Niall's expression drops. "Harry, you're not a terrible father. You're amazing. You carried Lillian throughout the whole pregnancy so of course you're going to feel tired and exhausted and out of it now that she's here. It's normal, H."

"Yeah, but, I'm also not being a good boyfriend." Harry sighs. "I mean Fiancé," he corrects, shaking his head. "I cant even be alone with her right now without freaking out. I have to have you or my mum here with me because the thought of being a dad by myself freaks me out. In the middle of the night, she wakes up crying, and I always make Louis go because I'm bloody terrified to do it my myself. It's easier to sleep and not get up because then I know that I'm safe and that Lillian is safe with her better father."

"That doesn't make you the bad father, Harry," Niall eases, patting Harry. "You have to remember that you carried Lillian in your stomach for seven months, and she's been out in the world for only six weeks. This adjustment is going to take the biggest toll on _you._ "

Harry bites his lip. "Well, Lillian wakes up all the time. She doesn't sleep through the night yet and sometimes, it's multiple times throughout the night that she wakes, and I _still_ force Louis to go instead of me. And I feel terrible because Louis has to always wake up the next morning to go to practice, and I know he's bloody exhausted, but I just cannot do it. I'm too worried."

"Harry," Niall sighs, shaking his head. 

"You don't have to say anything," Harry grumbles, going back to picking at his food. "Louis yelled at me this morning because of it so I don't need to hear it from anyone else." 

Niall lifts an eyebrow. "He yelled at you? Seriously?"

"He did," Harry confirms. "I hate to admit that I was a little scared, but I genuinely was. I had him yelling at me and Lillian crying. It was a lot to take in." 

"He never yells at you."

Harry shrugs his shoulders, eyelids fluttering. "I must have made him exceptionally mad then."

"Does he still take his medication for his anger." 

Harry frowns. "He takes it daily." 

"Well ," Niall pauses, tilting his head. "Has he been taking it?" 

Harry scrunches his forehead. "Not today, I don't recall." Harry then shakes his head. "Truth be told, I haven't really seen him take it often." Harry then groans, going to cover his face. "I put so much on his plate that I made him forget to take his medication. I really do suck." 

"No, Harry, stop, don't do that," Niall eases, wrapping an arm around Harry's back. 

"He could have lost control, Niall," Harry nearly cries, lifting his face from his hands. 

Niall opts to comment on that. "I'll text Liam and Zayn just to give them a fair warning that Louis hasn't been taking his medicine."

Harry buries his face back into his hands, groaning loudly. 

He remembers so clearly how dark Louis' eyes had gotten. Harry has only seen this side of Louis a hand full of times, and none of it was ever directed towards him. If anything, Louis only ever got this way when it came to standing up for Harry. It had never been because it was Harry who had pushed his buttons too many times. Louis was angry this morning. His skin was flushed red, and his eyes were not the fresh, crystal blue that Harry normally gets to see. There was a fire burning deep within the dark blue irises of Louis' eyes, and it seemed like every single word that Harry managed to say only set Louis off deeper into the abyss of his anger. It was all because of Harry.

"Fuck," Harry then cries, letting out a heady breath. "He almost had an episode because of me." 

"Harry, he's probably missed his pills before in the past." 

Harry shakes his head, laughing bitterly. "He never forgets." Harry swallows and runs his fingers through his hair. "The only reason why he has been forgetting is because he's tired and exhausted and because I'm not there to help him. He forgot today because he was running late. It's literally all my fault."

The two of them are interrupted when there's a sound coming from the baby monitor. Harry's eyes glance of to the screen and sees that Lillian is starting to stir awake. It takes her about a couple of minutes before the loud sound of a baby crying stings their ears. Harry sighs and makes the move to get up, but Niall stops him with a hand on his shoulder. 

"Let me get her, okay?" Niall suggests, smiling when Harry looks slightly worried. 

"She's probably hungry," Harry settles with, relaxing a little as Niall goes to grab her while he gets her bottle ready. 

When Niall comes back, he grabs the bottle so that he can begin feeding Lillian. "I love our baby," Niall says after a moment, smiling down as he watches Lillian's hand come out to rest against the side of the bottle. 

"She's mine," Harry argues, giggling when Niall glances up at him, offended. "Mine and Louis'," he clarifies. 

Niall rolls his eyes. "Don't be so possessive."

Harry laughs, following Niall over to the couch and sitting down next to him. "So does that mean you're going to burp her once you're finished." 

"You got that," Niall grimaces. He finishes up feeding Lily until the whole bottle is near empty, and then he's handing her off to Harry gladly. "Your turn," he announces, standing from the couch. "Where's a rag?" 

Harry points in the direction of the kitchen, smiling as he holds Lily up against his chest. "Next to the sink," he instructs. Harry waits until Niall walks back with a rag in his hand, and once he takes it from Niall, he places it over his shoulder and begins to gently pat Lillian's back. "Poor, Lily Bean. Uncle Niall doesn't want to burp you. So rude." 

Niall gags when Lillian makes a sound before some spit up comes out. "This is pretty gross, but I do have to say H, you really are a natural at this." 

Harry's lips curve up a little. "Thank you," he says earnestly, glancing at Niall briefly before focusing back to Lillian. "I know I can be good. I just worry too much." 

"Well, I want you to know that you really are doing a great job. So, please, believe it." 

Harry lets out a much needed breath and removes Lillian from his chest. He hands her over to Niall while he takes the rag off his shoulder so he can wash it in the sink. While Harry does this, Niall moves to the floor and giggles as he stands Lily up on top of his thighs, bouncing her in his hold and smiling when she breaks out into loud cackles. Harry soon joins after he gets her burp rag thrown in the laundry, a bright smile on his face as he sits across from Niall. 

"I can't believe how big she already is," Harry mumbles under his breath, making a silly face so he can hear Lily giggle. 

"Yeah, it seems like it was just yesterday," Niall reminisces as well, angling his head so he can blow a raspberry into her neck. Harry preens when Lily giggles again. "How's your belly holding up? Does it still hurt." 

Harry shrugs, lips straightening to a fine line. "It's sore, and I'm still a little flabby, but - " Harry raises his eyebrows. "Louis wanted to take a shower with me the other day, and I had to come up with a reason to avoid him seeing me shirtless." 

"Aw, come on, H," Niall pouts. 

Harry breathes a laugh through his nose. "Niall, we can't have sex, yet, nor am I wanting to at all. There was no point in showering together." 

"You two probably _need_ a shower together. It might be good for you guys. Have you gotten any alone time with each other?" 

"Bed time," Harry snorts, carefully leaning over so he can tickle Lillian's sides. "That's about it." 

"Do you kiss each other?" 

Harry furrows his eyebrows together. "Why are you interrogating my love life?" 

Niall cocks his head back, sitting Lillian down on his lap. "I'm just wondering. I mean, I know having a baby can take up a lot of your guy's time. I would just hate for the two of you to drift apart like this. I mean, he might want to shower with you because he gets to have that intimate moment with _only_ you. Or kissing - kissing can go a long way when you two are so caught up in being parents." Harry hums. "I'm just saying, Louis is probably Harry deprived, and that's more than likely adding to his current frustration right now." 

"I guess I have been pretty distant," Harry notes to himself. He frowns. "Overall, I guess I can be better - with Lillian, with him. I'm just hoping whatever funk I'm currently in will pass. I don't want him to despise me." 

Niall rolls his eyes, handing Lillian over to Harry. "Shut up, H. That man loves you no matter how much of a pain you are." 

The next couple of hours are spent with the two of them talking and entertaining Lillian as much as possible. When it comes to Lillian soiling her diaper, Niall gladly refuses to take care of that as well. Harry ends up changing her into a fresh pair of diaper and a new outfit for the day, and then he goes to put her in her crib when he sees that another round of tiredness hits her. Harry goes back out to join Niall after he makes sure Lillian is safe in her crib. He sits next to him on the couch and moves the baby monitor so it's in sight so that he can continuously check on Lillian while she sleeps. Niall ends up putting on a movie for the next hour or so until Louis is to arrive back at the flat. The last thing Harry wants to deal with right now is an angry Louis after practice all by himself, and he figures it would be best if Niall was there to simmer down any situation that could potentially rise. Harry's hoping that after training and practicing that Louis would come back relatively calm, but when Niall gets a message from Zayn warning the two of them that Louis is still pretty heated, they prepare for the worse. 

It isn't until the credits are rolling on the movie when the front door is bustling open, Louis stomping through with Zayn and Liam following behind. 

"You two don't have to hound me," Louis groans, ready to say further, but Zayn shuts him up and points to the bedroom. 

"Go take your fucking medicine," Zayn snaps. 

Louis rolls his eyes and goes straight to the bedroom, cussing and groaning under his breath, slamming the door behind him once he makes it inside the room. When he's gone, Liam and Zayn let out a big breath and walk over to the couch. Harry raises his eyebrows and glances at the closed bedroom door, pursing his lips to the side. 

"How is he?" he wonders nervously, flicking his eyes back to the two of them. 

Liam sighs as he runs his fingers through his fringe. "He was good for a little bit, but of course it got a little worse when we started running some new plays. He was getting frustrated with himself and with the other guys."

"He hasn't taken his medicine like all week," Zayn then informs, shaking his head as he pulls his phone out, busying himself by sending off a message. "He should know better," he then adds. 

Harry feels his heart sink to his stomach. "It's my fault, guys, and I'm so sorry I've been making his life a living hell here." 

"Harry, it's not your fault," Liam quickly eases, reaching over to place his hand on Harry's shoulder. "He knows what not taking his medication can do to him." 

Harry shrugs, eyes dropping down to his lap. "I mean, it's not like I was making it easy on him," he mumbles sadly, feeling the urge to cry again. "If I would've just helped, then he wouldn't be so exhausted, and he wouldn't have been so late." 

"There's a lot of if's," Zayn then says, blinking. "Either way, he really should not have forgotten." 

"He did mention how tired he's been," Liam chimes in next, pinching his bottom lip between his fingers, grunting. "Our last game, he was worried he wouldn't be able to play good. I remember having to pull him off to the side just so we can talk it out. He didn't mention the extent of his tiredness, but he was about near to tears when he said he was exhausted." 

Harry's eyes widen. "Are you serious?" He about whines. Liam nods his head regretfully. "Fuck," Harry mutters under his breath, standing from the couch. "Will you guys watch the monitor for me? Lillian will probably wake up soon." The three of them agree with a nod. "I'll go talk to him." 

Harry makes the slow walk to the bedroom and slowly opens the door. He sees that the light from the bathroom is on, filtering in through the cracks of the door and giving minimal light to the dark bedroom. Harry sighs as he shuts the door behind him so he can make his way over, slowly opening bathroom door and peaking his head inside to see where Louis is. His heart nearly breaks when he sees Louis sitting on the ground, resting up against the counter cabinets with his knees drawn up to his chest and head buried in his hands.

Harry bites his lip and makes his way inside. "Louis?" he questions softly, letting out a shaky breath. Louis removes his hands from his face and looks up, eyes rimmed red and traced with nothing but pure exhaustion. Harry's tears are back instantly. "Louis, I'm so sorry. I did this to you, and I'm so sorry I've been treating you like shit." 

Louis' face softens, and he holds his hand out for Harry. "Come here, love."

Harry sniffles and slowly makes his way to the ground, waiting until Louis' straightens his legs so that he can sit on top of them. Once Harry gets in Louis' lap, he pulls him into a much needed hug, burying his face into Louis' neck.

"I love you," Louis whispers against Harry's ear, pressing a kiss right to the side of his head. "I didn't tell you that this morning, but I want you to always know that I love you." Louis moves his head to the side so Harry can pull his own away, the two of them now looking at one another. Louis smiles and wipes under Harry's eyes. "And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have talked to you like that this morning. I felt terrible afterwards." 

Harry laughs bitterly. "I deserved it," he mutters. 

"You don't, baby. You don't ever deserved to be talked to like that." 

"Can I tell you something?" Harry wonders nervously. 

Louis moves his hands around Harry's back and pulls him in close, angling his head so he can look into Harry's eyes. "Anything." 

"I'm - " Harry pauses to breathe. "I'm terrified, Louis. I'm terrified of being alone with Lily. I'm terrified of getting up in the middle of the night and seeing something happen to her. I'm terrified that I'll mess up. I'm just terrified, Louis. All I do is worry and feel anxious, and that's why it's hard for me to do this parenting thing by myself. I can't even be alone with her in the apartment half the time because I'm worried that if something happens, there will be no one there to fix it. I mean, I have no confidence in myself right now. I can't even look at myself in the mirror right now without crying, and I want to so badly be with you, and kiss you, and be naked around you, but I'm scared. I'm scared for everything, and I don't want to disappoint you." 

Louis' face softens again, one hand coming up to caress the side of Harry's jaw. "Babe, you could never disappointment me, okay? Never." Harry huffs. "And, why didn't you tell me sooner you were feeling like this? I would have helped you. Dr. Walls warned us that this could happen after having Lily. We could have done something to make you not feel this way." 

"Because," Harry whines, rolling his eyes to the side. "I didn't want to admit that I'm an anxious father. I didn't want it to be a thing." 

"How do you feel today about it?" 

Harry pouts. "I think it's getting better, but I have to check Lillian so many times before I can just let her be in the crib. It's a rational fear I have that somethings going to happen." 

"We can work on it together," Louis eases, smiling, running the pad of his thumb down the slope of Harry's cheek. "We can take care of Lily together. I'll be by your side. I'll help you feel comfortable. We can get through this. You're a great dad, Harry. You have always been a natural with children, and you're a natural with ours." 

Harry smiles wearily. "I love you, too," he then says biting his lip when Louis' grin widens. "I would love for you to be there with me. I want to be able to wake up in the middle fo the night to take care of her. I want to help, and I want to make you happy." 

"You do make me happy, love." 

Harry giggles, pressing a kiss to Louis' lips. "I promise, I'll get better. I'll try." 

"I believe you." Louis leans in for another kiss, and then another, and then another, and then it turns into Harry giggling every time Louis is chasing for the next one. Louis pulls back with a smile and ends up pressing a kiss to the underside of Harry's jaw. "So, about our wedding ... " 

Harry widens his eyes, interested, and wiggles his hips excitedly on top of Louis' lap. "Oh, what do you have?" 

"The Olympics are this summer," Louis begins, hands coming to Harry's hips to hold on to. "And, I will more than likely play for England." 

"Are you trying to make me horny?" Harry teases. 

Louis rolls his eyes and playfully hits Harry's chest. "What I am saying is that - we should get married beforehand. Like, soon." 

"You want to get married soon? Like, how soon?"

"The Olympics start in August," Louis informs, smiling widely. "I was thinking a month or so beforehand." 

"Next week?" Harry cheekily responds, tilting his head. 

Louis tilts his head back to laugh. "Eager, aren't we, babe?" Harry nods his head. "How about in May, or June, or July? You pick the month." 

"July," Harry responds with a smile. "We got back together near July so I think it's perfect. Plus, it gives us a couple months to plan." 

"You really are eager, baby." 

Harry shrugs his shoulders, smiling cheekily. 

"Alright, then. May twenty eighth." 

Harry raises his eyebrows. "The twenty eighth?" 

"We met on the second, started dating _and_ got engaged on the eight - therefore, our number is twenty eight." 

Harry giggles, leaning in close and rubbing their noses together. "I love you," he whispers against Louis' lips, smiling as he presses a kiss. "Looks like we got the date set then." 

"Looks like we do."

//

_𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎_  
_𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝙳𝙳𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙾𝙵_  
_♡ 𝐿𝑜𝓊𝒾𝓈 𝒯𝑜𝓂𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑜𝓃 & 𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒮𝓉𝓎𝓁𝑒𝓈 ♡_  
_𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝟸𝟾_  
_𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕 𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝙵𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHO'S GOING


	42. Chapter 42

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** Mine. Mine. Mine. 

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 **HarryStyles commented:** Forever yours x

//

Harry is exhausted, more so than _ever._

"Hey, focus." It's Gemma, and her snarky loud voice is enough to make Harry groan. She walks over to him and lazily kicks at his shin. "The countdown to your wedding is _on,_ and we need to find you the perfect tux." 

The thing is, they have been looking at tuxedoes for two hours, and nothing seems to be the one. It's been a constant drag of searching through the different styles and Harry having to continuously take off and put on his clothes. The downside to all of this, he doesn't get to be with Lily or Louis. The whole point of the tuxedo shopping, per Gemma's input, is that they have to choose theirs separately. Since there is no dress reveal at the wedding, Gemma figured they could have a tuxedo reveal. Since Harry wants something more than just a plain black suit, it seems right that neither get to see what they are wearing before their wedding day. So, ergo, Harry spending half his day away from his fiancé while he scavenges through all the tuxedo shops in London. 

"I'm tired, Gemma, I barely slept last night," Harry complains, sinking further into the couch that is in their dressing room. 

Gemma makes a face. "Please, keep the details to a minimum. I don't want to know." 

Probably fair. Harry doesn't think his sister needs to know that he spent the better half of his night crying out Louis name while Louis ate his ass out. Good times.

"I found a couple more," another voice is then saying, Lottie being the one to emerge into the dressing room with a tux on each of her arms. She glances over at Harry and smiles wearily when she notices how tired he looks. "These can be the last ones we try, and then we'll be done. I really think you will like these two."

Harry groans as he pushes himself off the couch. "How come you cannot bother Louis about his tuxedo?" He complains, going to the tux on Lottie's left arm and carefully taking it out of the bag. He holds it in front of himself and hums thoughtfully. 

"Don't worry, he's going shopping with us in a few days," Lottie eagerly responds. 

"Any reason I have to be the first one to get the tux?" Harry wonders, draping the suit over his arm and grabbing the next one from Lottie. His eyes widen in interest when he catches sight of that one. 

"He wants you to pick first," Gemma notes, taking a seat on the couch now that its' unoccupied. She crosses her leg over the other and grabs her half empty champagne glass from the table out in front. "He told us that you can pick out whatever tux you want, and he'll get his in coordination to it." 

Harry's lips curve up into a wide smile. "I think I'm going to go with the navy," he confesses. It was the second one he picked from Lottie, and he quickly goes behind the drape so he can change out of his clothes to get that one put on. Lottie walks over to join Gemma on the couch, and after a few minutes of waiting, Harry finally walks back out, the suit now on him clinging to his body wonderfully. 

"Looks good, H," Gemma notes. 

"Turn in a circle," Lottie instructs. 

Harry smiles as he does as told, soon stopping in front of the mirror when he gets a sideways glance at his body. His eyes widen when they fall to the slope of his ass, just now noticing just good it looks in these pants. Harry hums thoughtfully and goes to touch, not entirely familiar with his bum looking relatively this good. 

"Have I always had an ass?" Harry wonders confusedly, bottom lip jutting out as he turns in all different directions to admire himself. Harry kind of wishes he noticed a lot sooner that he was no longer flat back there. It's no wonder Louis was all about it the previous night. 

"I'm assuming this suit is a yes if the way your bum looks is of concern," Lottie notes with a giggle, shaking her head when she sees Gemma grimacing. "I do like this one."

Harry agrees with a hum, still so surprised at how good he looks in this outfit. Now, he definitely cannot wait until his wedding night. He's as excited for Louis to take his first look at the suit as he is for Louis to rip the suit off of him. 

"I can tell your mind is going to the gutter," Gemma comments after a few minutes of silence and Harry staring at himself. 

Harry shakes his head out of his thoughts and turns to look at the two girls. "I'm going to get this one," he opts to say, ignoring his sister's comment. "Do we know how much?" 

"Louis told me to tell you to not worry about the price," Lottie fesses, smiling wearily when Harry furrows his brows together. 

"Why does he do this? I'm supposed to pay for my own suit." 

"You're his sugar baby, H," Gemma teases. She stands from the couch and walks up to Harry, smiling as she pats his chest. "Embrace it." 

Harry rolls his eyes, hip checking Gemma. "Don't say that." 

"So, is this the one?" Lottie then questions. She stands from the couch as well and joins Harry and Gemma at the mirror, the three of them admiring the outfit through the reflection. 

Harry's smile widens. "I'm getting it."

After they make the purchase, they head outside the tuxedo shop to the car that is waiting out front. The three of them pile into the back of the car while the driver begins taking them back to Harry's flat. Harry ends up pulling his phone out his pocket so he can send a message to Louis about the good news of him picking out his tux. Harry feels giddy and excited knowing that they are one step closer to their wedding. First, it's picking out the tuxedos. Then, it's looking at venues. Next, it's picking out the cake, and the food, and the music, and sending out the invitations. And then, it's the actual wedding day, and Harry absolutely _cannot_ wait until he and Louis are standing at the alter. More than anything, Harry cannot wait to see how his and Louis' tux look standing next to each other. 

Harry's phone pings with an incoming message after sending his one to Louis. 

_I can't wait to rip it off your body on our wedding night_ , is what it reads, and Harry's face instantly heats up in a blush. Gemma notices the change in Harry's expression and furrows her eyebrows, shouldering Harry, a wary look on her face as he quickly glances up at her before going back to his phone to respond.   
  
_I'd rather you rip my clothes off today_

"Why are you blushing?" Gemma finally questions, trying her best to peak at Harry's phone, but he quickly hide his phone against his chest. 

"I am not blushing," Harry argues, swallowing nervously. "I'm just ready to get home."

Gemma rolls her eyes and leaves it at that, not bothering to make any further comments for the rest of the ride. Once they do finally get to the flat, Harry is quick out the car. He nearly leaves Gemma and Lottie behind as he rushes into the elevator, anxiously pressing the top floor until the doors begin to close. Lottie and Gemma giggle at Harry's hurriedness, and they burst out into laughter when he all but runs down the hallway to make his way inside the flat. He's immediately halted when he sees his and Louis' mothers in the living room, the two of them entertaining Lillian on the couch. 

"Hello," Harry greets breathlessly, biting his lip and eyeballing the whole place and hoping he could stop his fiancé. Gemma and Lottie walk past Harry to join their mothers on the couch, Gemma reaching for Lily first. "So, where's Louis?"

Gemma snorts, opting not to say anything in favor of pressing kisses to Lillian's neck. 

As if on cue, Louis emerges from the bedroom. Harry's eyes shine as he glances over in his direction, smiling widely when he drinks in Louis' appearance. He looks soft and comfy, beautiful beyond words. His hair is swept to the side, as if he didn't do anything to it since waking up in the morning. He has a loose t shirt on and some joggers, sockless as he pads his way further into the living room. 

"Hi, baby," Louis greets, walking over to Harry and getting an arm around his waist. "So, you got the tux?" he questions casually, leaning over to kiss Harry's cheek. 

Harry nods his head eagerly, curving his body into Louis' hold. "Can't wait for you to see it." 

"Now I see why you were excited to get back," Gemma mutters under her breath, laughing when Lottie grimaces. Anne quickly smacks Gemma on her leg. 

Harry ignores her comment and begins pulling Louis in the direction of their bedroom. "I need to talk to you about something," he quickly informs, also ignoring the loud cackle coming from both Gemma and Lottie. 

Louis' eyes widen comically when he gets abruptly shoved into the bedroom. Never mind the fact that their mothers and sisters are in the other room with their daughter because Harry is more preoccupied with pushing Louis on top of the bed and crawling on top of him, a devilish smirk on his face as he slips his hands underneath Louis' shirt to hike it up his chest. 

"What's going on with you?" Louis questions, surprised, interested, slightly turned on. His hands find their way to Harry's thighs, and he ends up digging his fingers into the meat of his legs when Harry starts to rock his hips on top of Louis' groin. "Okay," he breathes out, agreeing to whatever it is that Harry is offering him. 

Harry giggles and hinges his body so he can lean down to press his lips against Louis', sighing when he finally gets a taste of his fiancé on the tip of his tongue. Louis kisses back as eagerly and savors the way his lips twist perfectly to Harry's. He runs his hands up and down the length of Harry's thighs before he's trailing his fingers up the curve of his waist and sneaking them underneath his shirt. Harry's body shivers when Louis' cold hands touch his skin, smiling when Louis' arms end up tightening around him so that Louis can turn him over to his back. Once Louis has Harry lying on the mattress, he slows the kissing down, moving his lips to the side of Harry's face and trailing his lips down Harry's neck. 

"What do you want?" Louis wonders under his breath, kissing his way back to Harry's ear and nibbling, fingers digging into Harry's hips when Harry thrusts upwards into Louis' body. 

Harry takes a moment to answer as Louis continues to kiss all over his face and his neck. The feeling of Louis' soft, gentle lips peppering his skin is enough for the flutter of butterflies to erupt in his stomach. Harry's heart quickens in speed when Louis' hands run up and down his body, as if Louis is first learning every inch and curve to him. Louis kisses Harry as if he's made of glass, the most fragile thing in the world. Louis loves so tenderly and gently, but there's so much passion with every touch and kiss that Harry can feel it deep within his bones. 

"Harry?" 

Harry's eyes flicker open when he realizes Louis asked him a question. He blinks a couple of times and notices that Louis is looking down at him, a smirk curving his lips. Harry laughs nervously and brings a hand up, carding his fingers through Louis' hair as he hikes a leg around Louis' waist. 

"I'm not going to lie," Harry says slowly, biting his lip and looking in between their bodies. He swallows when he sees his shirt hiked up his chest and pants unbuttoned. "I'm scared." 

Louis lifts an eyebrow, reaching out to hold Harry's leg pressed up against him. "Scared for what?"

"Sex." Harry breathes out a laugh, glancing at the ceiling when he feels Louis' gaze focusing more on his face. "I'm scared to have sex again. It's been awhile." 

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to, love."

Harry smiles thankfully. "Maybe we can hold off?" He suggests nervously, relaxing when he sees Louis' face softening. Harry breathes a little better. "I know it's past my postpartum recovery and all that - and Doctor Walls told me we can have sex or whatever, but I don't know, I just don't feel up to it right now. I thought, I hoped, that by our wedding night I'll feel differently, and I was thinking, just maybe, we can wait until then? It might make it more special, and just like, the built up of it and all that." 

"I think that's a good idea," Louis agrees, caressing the curve of Harry's jaw. He leans down to press a quick kiss to Harry's nose. "We can wait until our wedding night." 

Harry then furrows his eyebrows. "That doesn't mean I don't want _something_ ," he corrects. 

"Well, what do you want then?" Louis questions with a laugh, grinding his hips into Harry's and ducking down to kiss the dip of his neck. 

Harry closes his eyes and hikes his other leg up, completely holding Louis to his body with his arms and legs wrapped around him. "T-this is fine." 

It's crazy how easily and quickly Harry can get off like this. As much as he wants to go all the way and really enjoy the feel of him and Louis connecting through sex, he simply _can't._ Harry had been told numerous times that after having his baby everything will end up being and feeling different, and boy, they are right. Harry's still getting used to his stomach, seeing the scar on the bottom of his belly line. His laurel tattoos were stretched out from the pregnancy, and unfortunately, the C-section cut had to go right through them. Not only that, Harry still hasn't completely lost all his stomach fat. There is just the smallest of pudge left, and even though he is still fairly skinny and fit, it's still discerning for him to look in the mirror and see that little slope of his belly that seems to be too stubborn to leave. Harry's confidence also waivers. Some days, he feels sexy and beautiful, and other days, he wants to hide himself in a paper bag. He isn't sure if he's still having the affects of afterbirth, but there are moments where his anxiousness spikes and his confidence plummets.

On days like today, the emotions don't even matter. After going so long without having someone touch him sexually or love on him passionately, he ends up craving it more than ever. Even just the simplest touch of Louis' lips on his skin is enough to send an electric shock throughout Harry's body. The way Louis' hands run up and down the curve of his waist and trailing around his back to hold him close has Harry arching for more. Harry whimpers when he feels Louis grinding his hips further into his own, biting down on his bottom lip when Louis ends up moving his hand in between their bodies to really get them off. It's so quick and messy, acting like a bunch of horny teenagers in desperate need of having an orgasm while their family is in just the room over. It's not unusual for them to get off this way. There are times when Harry gets desperate an whiny, ergo as he is in this moment, and then of course last night when Louis ate him out, but then there are those days when he simply doesn't want to be touched. It's such a stark contrast, and it definitely keeps Louis on his toes because he never knows when he needs to jump or stay away.

Lately, it's been getting better. Harry's definitely getting better into this new postpartum life, and more times than not, he'd rather have Louis in some way over not having him at all. And even though Harry isn't ready for full blown sex right now, he does appreciate how calm and attentive Louis has been towards him. 

" _God, Louis_. I can't believe I got off on us humping." 

Louis snorts as he rolls off of Harry, laying on his back and covering his eyes with his arm. "I did, too, babe. No shame." 

"I promise it'll happen again," Harry then says breathlessly, turning his head on the pillow and smiling softly when Louis lifts his arm. "I don't know why having your dick - " Louis chokes on a laugh "inside of me is freaking me out, but it is." 

Louis rolls his eyes and scoots closer to Harry. "You don't have to explain it to me, H. I'm perfectly fine humping like horny teens." 

"Stop it," Harry giggles, hiding his face in the crook of Louis' neck. 

"I'm serious, though. You were pregnant. You had our baby. I get why you're hesitant for all of it." 

Harry blinks as he tilts his head towards Louis, pressing a gentle kiss to Louis' jaw. "We should probably clean up and go out there. I think our sister's can hold us off for so long before mum gets suspicious." 

"You were very obvious, babe." 

Harry rolls his eyes and gets out of bed. "Shut up and clean me." 

The two of them freshen up quickly and put on new clothes since their previous ones were ruined with sweat and come. They step back into the living room and notice that only Lottie and Gemma are the only ones there, and they are thankfully saved from any mother interrogation from the slightly disheveled looks on both of their faces. Gemma shakes her head and goes back to texting on her phone while Lottie has to cover her mouth to suppress a giggle. Louis scowls at her as he goes towards the arm chair to take a seat, immediately grabbing Harry's arm and forcing him down on his lap. 

"Gosh, did you two not get enough _five fucking_ minutes ago?" Lottie snaps. 

Louis hardens his eyes. "Shut your trap." 

"Louis William Tomlinson," Jay's voice cuts in, her walking out the nursery with Lillian in her arms, Anne following behind her with a packet of brochures in her hand. The two of them walk over to the sitting area to join the rest of them. "Do not talk to your sister like that." 

Lottie lets out a loud laugh while Louis continues to glare at his sister. Harry smiles and presses a kiss to Louis' cheek. 

"Did you two get things sorted?" Anne then questions mindlessly. 

Harry's eyes widen horrifically. "What?" 

"Gemma said there was something about the tux you needed to talk to Louis about." 

Harry eyes Gemma curiously, twisting his lips to the side when Gemma mouths _you're_ _welcome_ to him. Harry's face softens, relaxing a little better, and turning to look at his mother again. 

"Right," Harry clears his throat, grabbing Louis' hand that's resting on his thigh and tangling their fingers together. "I found a tux I liked, but it wasn't an ideal or traditional one so I wanted to run it by Louis without giving away too much detail but also needing his somewhat approval for it. It's hard doing the whole tuxedo reveal and making sure it fits with everything else in the wedding. You know me. I like this planned and perfect and beautiful, and I want the perfect tux, and I want Louis to like, and ... yeah."

"You're rambling," Gemma notes.

Harry's cheeks pinken. 

"Anyway," Anne coughs, eyeing both her children curiously. "Jay and I found a bunch of wedding brochures that you two might be interested in. I know you've been wanting to be set on a location, and we met up with the planner this morning to get some of her recommendations. We checked out a few places as well." 

"I think there's one pamphlets that has a guide for picking out food, music and themes," Jay adds, hugging Lily close to her chest. 

"Can I have Lily back?" Gemma interrupts, frowning a little bit, arms reaching out when Lily turns her head to the sound of Gemma's voice.

"Gemma, don't be rude," Anne chastises. 

Gemma whines. "But mum, you stole her from me." 

"You stole her from me," Lottie complains. 

"You all stole her from me," Louis finishes. "I think we should get Lily. She is ours." 

Gemma shakes her head. "You get her everyday. Share a little." 

"Here, dear," Jay gives in. She stands from her spot and walks Lily over to Gemma, smiling when Gemma starts cooing once she has Lillian in her hold again. "Now, back to wedding details," Jay says when she's seated again. 

"Do you guys have an idea of where you want to get married?" Lottie wonders, aimlessly letting Lilly hold on to her finger while she relaxes against the cushion. 

"I want outdoors maybe," Harry answers, glancing at Louis for his approval. With his nod, Harry smiles and turns back to everyone else in the room. "Then maybe have the reception in a big ballroom. Something like that." 

Anne gets up from the couch and walks the brochures over to them. "These have some good reception venues - some for ceremony as well, but I remember you mentioning that you might want those in separate places if we can't find a place to do both."

"My favorite is the rooftop one. It has a full view of London," Jay notes, wiggling her eyebrows excitedly. 

"That would be super pretty at sunset," Gemma hums. 

Harry sets the stack of brochures on his lap and grabs the first one to look at. Louis hooks his chin over Harry's shoulder and tightens his arms around Harry's waist as the two of them make mental notes of which brochures catch their eyes the most. The third brochure is the one Jay had mentioned, the venue with the full view of London on the top floor of some event building. It has glass windows all around the place and a open floor, kitchen and a stage. It looks ideal to have the reception at this place, and since price isn't really an issue when it comes to their wedding budget, Harry really thinks this could be the place they celebrate after the ceremony. Plus, there's a beautiful chandelier that hangs in the middle of the dance section, and Harry is absolutely in love with every small feature he finds. 

"Jay, this is perfect," Harry breathlessly says, biting his lip as he finds the page that list all the amenities they could provide if this room was rented for any sort of event. 

Louis hums in agreement. "Where did you find this?" 

"It's the top listing for wedding venues. I believe they have a garden as well that is just beautiful," Jay explains. "So you could get married right outside the building and then go on up to the top floor for the reception. I even think the elevators have windows so you can see everything as you go up."

"It definitely sounds amazing," Gemma chirps. 

Harry nods, setting the brochure down and glancing at Jay. "Did the wedding planner say anything about this place? I imagine it would take us forever to book anything here, and to be honest, I don't want to wait years to get married. We already sent our save the dates." 

Louis smiles and presses a kiss to Harry's neck. 

"Actually," Anne chimes in, lips curving in the biggest smile ever. "They have an opening."

"Mum, we chose a specific date for a reason," Harry whines.

Anne chuckles. "What if I told you that they have that day available?" 

Harry gawks, turning to stare wide eyed at Louis for a brief second. "Excuse me?" he then asks his mother, making sure he heard her correctly. "This place has July 28th open?" 

"They do," Anne nods, sharing a look with Jay. 

"This place told us that they normally have everything booked at least a couple years in advance. They said there was a fluke that day, and they had no one scheduled," Jay adds in. 

Gemma laughs. "It's meant to be then."

"Heck yeah," Lottie agrees. "If this place is booked solid, and the one day you two plan to get married is available, then you _have_ to get it. What kind of soulmate luck is that?" 

Harry preens as he snuggles back into Louis, giggling quietly. "It really is pretty." 

"I love it," Louis agrees. "Are you sure you want this place, love? I'm sure we will have to book it fairly soon." 

Harry nods eagerly, eyes watering up. "Yes, I want this place." 

"Oh, thank goodness," Jay breathes out anxiously, laughing despite herself. "We told the renters to go ahead and schedule a tour of the place for tomorrow so I guess the two of you have plans now." 

Louis snorts. "You two were really set on this place, huh?" 

"Hey, you asked us to help look around for venues," Anne shrugs. 

"Yeah," Harry laughs. "Yesterday," he reminds. "I wasn't expecting quick work, but I glad we can count on the two of you."

"Did you guys look at other places?" Gemma wonders.

Harry almost forgot that Gemma is holding Lily because when he looks over at her, he sees that Lillian is fast asleep in her arms. Harry smiles at the sight. He loves his baby so much. 

"We glanced at a few, but nothing stuck to us like this place," Anne answers. 

"Plus, a lot of them were booked out for the year," Jay adds in. 

Gemma hums and turns back to the boys. "So, what about the ceremony? Are you going to do it there in the garden?" 

"No," Louis is the one to answer. Harry furrows his eyebrows and angles his head towards Louis, waiting for him to elaborate on his answer. Louis smiles and pecks Harry's nose. "I think I have an idea on where we should have the ceremony." 

"Well, where?" Harry questions. 

Louis bites his lip and stares at Harry, feeling a goofy grin stretch his lips when he sees how bright and shiny Harry's green eyes are today. Louis reaches up and caresses Harry's cheek, not minding that the others are in the room casually watching the two of them. Louis could care less because in this moment, all his focus on is the love of his life right there on his lap, right there in his hold. 

"Hyde Park," he finally answers. 

Harry feels his heart skip a beat. 

"Why Hyde park?" Gemma questions, interrupting their moment. 

Louis doesn't deter, just continues to look at Harry with a wide smile on his face. "It's our love place." 

That's when the first tear finally falls down Harry's cheek. 

"Well, then, it looks like we have our venues set," Anne concludes. 

And gosh, if Harry kisses the living daylights out of Louis after saying that, then no one else in the room bothers to disrupt them because Harry is so in love right now, and the two of them are about to get married in the one place that started it all. Hyde Park, their love place. 

//

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**HarryStyles:** My Fairytale 

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** My favorite baby

**HarryStyles replied:** I would hope so. 

//

The morning light filters in through the cracks of the curtains, casting a blinding glow behind Harry's closed eyelids. It's still early in the morning, from what Harry can feel, and there are no pair of arms around his waist that tells him Louis is probably not asleep anymore, which means, Louis woke up first. He never wakes up first. 

It takes a second for Harry to register the faint sound of some cooing and soft humming, and now that he's starting to wake up, he can also sense the mattress moving a little. Harry lets out a groan as he stretches his body before he's finally cracking his eyes open. He's blessed with the sight of Louis sitting up against the headboard, holding Lillian up in the air and bringing her close down to his face. He then presses kisses all over her belly and eliciting a loud giggle from her tiny chest. Harry smiles as he reaches out to Louis' leg, placing his hand on top of Louis' thigh to let him know that he's finally awake. 

Louis turns his head at contact and smiles down at Harry, setting Lillian down on his lap. "Morning, baby."

"I like waking up like this," Harry grumbles under his breath. He moves his hand from Louis' thigh and goes to Lillian's belly, ticking her, heart swelling when Lillian giggles and then reaches for him. Harry grunts as he opens his arms for Louis to move Lily on the mattress. Harry preens once he gets his arms around his baby. "Hi, my love." Harry presses a kiss to her cheek and lays back down, watching Lily sit there for a moment before she starts wiggling back towards Louis. Harry glances up at Louis again, and his entire face softens. 

"What?" 

Harry's cheeks blush. "We're getting married soon," he whispers like a secret, heart thrumming in his chest when Louis' own smile forms. 

"We are," Louis agrees, reaching out to run his fingers through Harry's fringe. "How do you feel?" 

"Like I love you more than anything else in this world." 

"Well, that's a relief," Louis teases. 

Harry rolls his eyes and finally moves to get up, sitting against the headboard as well and dragging Lilian back towards him. He holds her close to his chest and begins pressing kisses all over her cheeks. "Lily bean, what do you think about your daddies getting married? About time, right?"

"Have you thought about where you want our honeymoon?" 

Harry raises his eyebrows and glances at Louis. "Honeymoon?" 

"Yeah, married people normally do this after the wedding," Louis reminds with a laugh. He scoots closer to Harry and gets an arm around his waist, snuggling in close and laying his head on Harry's shoulder, smiling when Lillian's big, doe eyes look up at him in wonder. 

"Right." Harry clears his throat, pursing his lips, bouncing Lillian in his lap and causing more soft cooing sounds to come out. "I don't know, really. I know a honeymoon is supposed to be all ... lovey and sexual," Harry huffs, "But I don't know about leaving Lilly behind. Would we be terrible parents if we just left our child with somebody while we spend a week somewhere tropical to bone everyday?" 

Louis snorts, hiding his laugh into the crook of Harry's neck. "We don't have to bone everyday," he notes.

"Yes, we do," Harry scoffs, as if any other option is plausible.

Louis rolls his eyes and presses a kiss to Harry's forehead before he's getting off the bed. "Stop being a dirty boy and get up. We have a long day planned for us. I'll surprise you with the Honeymoon."

Harry frowns when Louis walks away into the bathroom, leaving both him and Lillian on the bed alone. "We have today planned?" he calls out, focusing more on that bit. He was really hoping for a lazy day after spending a long day yesterday of looking at venues. When there's no response, Harry grunts and gets off the bed as well, holding Lillian on his hip and following Louis to the bathroom. "What do we have planned? You're off. I'm off. It's Sunday."

"It's bath day," Louis announces, pulling the tub out from under the sink and placing it on an open countertop.

Harry's has a smile on his face as his eyes glance down to where Louis grabbed the small tub from, but upon seeing the cabinet door slightly cracked open, his face immediately drops. Harry tries to not let what he sees bring his mood down, especially seeing how happy Louis is about Lillian's bath time. It really is one of Louis' favorite part of the week when he gets to bathe Lillian and make silly faces at her while she soaks in the suds, but for some reason, that cabinet door brings Harry down. 

Harry swallows and quickly blinks away, opting to stare at his reflection in the mirror and watching Lillian's curious eyes look every which way in the bathroom. Of course, the shift in Harry's mood does not go unnoticed by Louis. 

"Harry, what's wrong?" 

Harry jolts a little at the abrupt interrogation, really thinking he got away with this one. "Nothing," he sighs, finally looking at Louis again. 

Of course, Louis is unconvinced. 

"That's not true," Louis argues. He steps away from the counter and walks up to Harry. He looks carefully at the features on Harry's face and notices the slight tilt to his lips that shows he's upset about _something._ Louis raises his eyebrows and gently pries Lillian out of Harry's hold, knowing very well that if Harry isn't distracted by their daughter then he'll be more open to spilling his mind. "You look gloomy." 

Harry huffs as he glances at the cabinet door again, anxiously crossing his arms over his chest. "It's just - I haven't seen it since," he mutters, making his point known by not removing his eyes from the tallies he sees carved in the door. 

Louis realizes quickly what Harry is referring to because his shoulder immediately slack, and a soft _Oh_ is whispered under his breath. Harry makes a face and rolls his eyes to the side, trying really hard to not get emotional over the fact that he can't look at a stupid door that he carved stupid tallies in because he was too stupid to actually come clean about how he was feeling. Harry can't believe he was ever that low in his life where he marked up the days that he felt worthless and belittled on a cabinet door. He wonders what difference would have become had he talked to Louis about everything or talked to _anyone_ about the situation. Harry always thought his thing with making marks in the door was such an odd relief to the pain that he was feeling, but it was his therapy. Every time the blade of a razor, or a knife, sliced a dent in the wood, he felt slight relief. It was another day for him that he was able to survive and push through, a reminder that no matter how horrible he felt in the moment, he was able to live a new day. 

"I count them, you know?" Louis eventually says, bouncing Lillian on his hip when her fingers start gripping the collar of his shirt. He takes a step back and uses his free hand to open the cabinet door wider, swallowing as he glances at the tallies. "Ever since that day, I make sure to keep track. The end of the week, I count them, and I make sure there's no new ones." 

Harry's eyes water up, heart beating quicker in his chest as he looks over at Louis. "You do?" 

"There's eighty seven tallies." 

Harry gulps, a thick lump forming in his throat that's slowly making it harder for him to breathe. 

"That means, there were eighty seven times while we were together that you felt low - eighty seven too many." Louis lets out a heavy breath and closes the door, walking back over to Harry. "I promised myself after that I would pay attention more. I checked a lot after you gave birth to Lillian. I wanted to make sure that the pressure of being a first time parent, or the emotional challenge it was after giving birth didn't take a toll on you. I _have_ to make sure - every week at least."

Harry breathes heavily out his nose and feels the sudden urge to laugh, not sure where it even comes from, but at this point, all he can think to do is just let it out. Out of all things that Louis has done for Harry, which has been a lot, nothing could ever compare to this small detail Louis puts his focus in to make sure Harry's well being is okay. It's so small, checking the sink cabinets once a week to count how many tallies there are, to make sure no new ones had appeared since he first saw them on the day they broke up. It's the most careful thing Louis could ever do, and Harry is hit with the sudden wave of how much Louis loves him that he just can't help but to fucking laugh.

"You love me so much," Harry blurts out, shaking his head and finally smiling. He walks up to Louis and cuddles into the side that Lilian is not being held against, curling himself around Louis and burying his head into Louis' neck. "Thank you, for checking. I haven't felt the need to do it, but it means everything that I'm so important to you."

Louis presses a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "Harry, we're there for each other. At all the highs and all the lows - we're in it together." Louis pulls back a little and smiles at Harry. "You've seen me at my worst, and you still stuck by my side. There's no one else I'd rather do this with."

"I definitely can't wait to marry you." Harry seals his words with a kiss, eventually getting interrupted when Lillian makes a sound that forces the two of them to part. Harry turns his head to then look at her with a smile, giggling as he pinches her cheek. "Sorry, Lily Bean. Is bath time taking too long for you?"

Louis presses a fat kiss to the side of her face. "Let's get you cleaned up." 

Louis quickly gets Lillian undressed while Harry sets the tub up in the sink. He makes sure the water isn't too warm for her and then pulls out the baby soap he keeps on the shelf above the toilet. Louis carefully sets Lillian down in the water and laughs when her eyes go big from getting her skin wet. It takes her a second to adjust to the feel of the water before a gummy smile takes over her face. She lets out a cackle and wiggles her arms in the water, getting some droplets to splash out the side of the tub and create a little puddle on the bathroom counter. 

"She's messy like her daddy," Harry rolls his eyes, smiling despite himself, getting the soap ready so he can lather her up with it. 

"She likes bath just like her daddy." Louis smirks, pressing in close to Harry and kiss the shell of his ear. "You know I love a good bath." 

Harry wiggles his hips and pushes Louis away. "Don't talk sexy to me while we're bathing our daughter. Go grab the towel for her."

Louis grumbles under his breath at being told what to do, but he still goes and grabs the towel that has Lillian's name engraved on the edge. Once Harry gets Lillian all cleaned up, Louis gently pats her down before smoothing out her skin with lotion. He then wraps her up in the towel to keep her from getting too cold and holds Lillian close to his chest while Harry empties out the tub and cleans up the small mess they made on the counter. Afterwards, the two of them head over to the nursery. 

"Dressing Lilly is my favorite," Harry notes, already walking towards her dresser and searching for a cute outfit to wear. 

Louis snorts and goes to the changing table, ready to put a fresh nappie on her bottom. "What's the look for today?" he wonders, smiling when Lilian twitches her legs before she raises them in the air. "Are we doing the leather jacket?" 

Harry scoffs, turning to scowl at the back of Louis' head. "Our daughter is not wearing a leather jacket." 

"What's wrong with that?" 

"She's barely two months. I don't want her looking like a biker. I want her looking like my baby." 

Louis rolls his eyes and picks Lily up once she has a diaper on, turning to face Harry. "At least give her the vans to wear." 

It's a good compromise. 

"With leggings and a cute t shirt?" Harry suggests. 

"A jean jacket as well?" 

Harry rolls his eyes. 

"Oh, come on," Louis whines, pouting. "If not the leather, then at least the jean. She'll look proper." 

Harry gives in with a sigh. "Fine, she can wear the vans and the jean jacket, but she is definitely wearing the head band with the flower." 

"Deal."

Harry smiles and pulls out the outfit that he and Louis officially settled on. He goes to get the black leggings and a cute, yellow shirt that has _Daddies Little Monster_ embroidered on the front. Harry helps Louis with getting Lillian into her outfit, only having to struggle a little bit any time Lillian refused to get her leg in the pants hole or properly get her arm in the shirt. Once she has her whole outfit on, including the adorable head band, Harry smiles and picks her up, tossing her in the air a couple of times before hugging her to his chest. 

"You're the cutest," He announces to the room, eyes flickering over to Louis, smirking. "We made this." 

Louis cackles. "Yeah, we did, and we did a fine job at it." 

"She looks just like you." 

Louis shakes his head, disagreeing right away. "No, she's _your_ twin, babe." Louis walks up to them and presses a kiss to both of their cheeks. Harry blushes, and Lillian coos. "Have you thought about her outfit for the wedding?" 

"Kind of," Harry hums, swaying his body side to side. "I want her to match us, and to match our nautical theme - I was thinking maybe a shade of blue or an off white. Lottie actually sent me some pictures yesterday." 

"What about our anniversary?" Louis then questions, sliding his arm around Harry's waist and pulling him in tight. "That's coming up soon." 

Harry brightens. "It is," he remembers, biting his lip when a goofy smile starts to take over. "Four years together. Who would have thought nineteen year old Louis Tomlinson and sixteen year old Harry Styles would fall in love?" 

"Probably not you," Louis teases, pinching Harry's side. 

"Well, it's truly a romantic story," Harry says breathlessly, tilting his head on to Louis' shoulder and closing his eyes, smiling as he snuggles Lillian into his chest. "Because now those two crazy kids are getting married and spending the rest of their lives together." 

"It's definitely a story I would read." 

Harry giggles and kisses Louis' neck. "I really can't wait to marry you Louis." 

"Only a couple more months, love."

//

**ＫＩＮＤＬＹ ＪＯＩＮ ＵＳ ＦＯＲ  
**   
𝒯𝒽𝑒  
 **𝕎𝔼𝔻𝔻𝕀ℕ𝔾**  
 **ＯＦ**  
  
𝐿𝑜𝓊𝒾𝓈 𝒯𝑜𝓂𝓁𝒾𝓃𝓈𝑜𝓃  
𝒜𝓃𝒹  
𝐻𝒶𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒮𝓉𝓎𝓁𝑒𝓈  
 **  
~~~~𝕁𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝟚𝟠~~~~ **  
𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓃𝑜𝑜𝓃  
 **  
ＨＹＤＥ ＰＡＲＫ**  
 **[ℝ𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ommgggg. I am super close to finishing this story. I know updates have been sucky, but I've been trying my best to give you guys what you want! :D Hopefully these next few chapters bring you all much joy.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, 3 more chapters left. Wow, can't believe we are almost done with this story. I'm so happy I brought this here on the website and took the time to revamp everything. I've fallen in love with this story all over again, and I love seeing everyone fall in love with it as well. 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy. x

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 **HarryStyles commented:** We love you x

//

Harry cannot deny it, but he's very excited to celebrate his and Louis' anniversary. The two of them have shared many anniversaries before this one, and they have shared very many days in general together, but now- it's different. For one, they are engaged, and they are just shy of a month before they are walking down the aisle together so this will actually be their last anniversary as a normal couple before they start celebrating their anniversary as husbands. The second thing about this anniversary is that they now have Lily by their side, and they actually get to celebrate this specific anniversary for the first time as a family. It's more than special this time around, and although Harry and Louis have shared many anniversaries together, and have shared many days together, nothing seems to be able to beat this one.

Harry spent his entire night in a restless sleep just because of how excited he was to get to this day. He's always loved celebrating his anniversary with Louis, but each year, it becomes something he looks forward to. He loves spending the entire day just celebrating how far the two of them have come and celebrating the day their shared their first kiss. Of course, they had many kisses following, but each moment spent with Louis is like a first time for Harry. That's why Harry is the first to wake on their anniversary morning. He quickly pads over to the nursery to check on Lillian, more than happy that she's still sound asleep and getting better at her sleep schedule. Harry has been getting lucky that Lilly is starting to sleep through the night. So far this week, she can sleep all the way to seven in the morning so Harry has about an hour to get himself freshened up before he knows Lillian will start stirring awake. 

After Harry presses a gentle kiss to the top of Lillian's hair, he walks back to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. He slowly sheds his clothes and drops them on the floor before he's turning around to face the mirror, lips twisting to the side when he glances at his stomach. The pudge is still there, and the scar has healed beautifully, but it's something that constantly draws Harrys eyes too. He has yet to show his naked torso to Louis since giving birth, and even though Louis constantly tries to reassure Harry with sweet words that he has nothing to hide, Harry still cant find the confidence to be naked in front of Louis. Harry has one month before the big wedding day, and he has one month before he knows he and Louis will reconnect, so he has one month to make sure that he's back to his full potential of being somewhat confident without clothes. Thankfully, Harry's lost a good amount of his baby fat so now his stomach isn't hanging over as much, but he does miss the flatness of his belly and the strong muscles he used to have before he was pregnant. 

Once Harry spent a good amount of time looking at his body, he finally steps into the shower. It takes a couple of minutes of Harry enjoying his shower, washing himself up under the warm water, when he starts humming a tune. The soft hum then turns into a song, one that Harry starts to sing a little louder the more he gets into it. He should probably be mindful of Louis sleeping in the room right next door, but well, it's his anniversary, and he's happy, and he's singing a song about love. At this point, nothing can stop him. 

"You have a lovely voice, baby." 

Except that. That does end up shutting Harry up. 

"Louis?" Harry screeches, eyes wide as he opens the shower door a little so he can peak his head out. Harry scoffs when he sees Louis sitting on top of the bathtub, a warm smile on his face and a happy Lilly in his lap. "What are you doing in here?"

Lily gurgles in response, and Harry's entire face softens. 

"Just imaging what you look like all wet and soapy," is Louis' answer.

Harry rolls his eyes and goes back in. "You can't say stuff like that when you're holding our daughter," Harry reprimands, giggling as he quickly finishes up washing his body. Harry turns the facet off when he finishes and opens the shower door again, poking his head out and expectedly looking at Louis. 

"What?"

Harry's eyes widen, pointing at the towel he left on top of the toilet lid. "Can you grab my towel?"

"Just walk out," Louis teases, winking, getting up to grab the towel for Harry and tossing it in Harry's direction anyway. Harry grumbles and goes back in the shower again, wrapping himself in the towel before walking out now covered. "You know you don't have to hide from me. You're beautiful everywhere." 

Harry blushes and walks over to join Louis, eyeing him for a moment and then turning his attention towards Lily. "How are you little bean? Did daddy wake you up?" Harry pouts as he wedges Lily out of Louis' hold, awing once he gets his arms around his baby so he can press kisses all over her face. 

"Deflecting the comment I see," Louis mumbles, rolling his eyes to the side and smiling at the reflection in the mirror of Harry in his towel and bouncing Lily on his hip. He shakes his head and gets his own arm around Harry's waist, yanking him against his side and pressing a kiss to Harry's neck. "Happy Anniversary, love." 

Harry preens as he turns his head, pursing his lips out for a kiss that Louis easily complies to. "Happy Anniversary. I've been so excited for today." 

Louis follows Harry out the bathroom when he walks to the bedroom. He takes a seat on the edge of the bed and grabs Lillian when Harry hands her over so he can scavenge for clothes to wear. "Whys that?" Louis questions with a hum, raising his eyebrow when Harry bends over to open the bottom drawer of his dresser. 

When Harry stands back up, Louis quickly deflects his eyes. 

"Because, it's our last anniversary before we get married, but it's also our first anniversary with Lily. It's special."

Louis smiles, hugging Lily when she falls towards his chest. "Do you have anything planned then? You were very strict that I left everything up to you this year." 

"That's because you _always_ spoil me." Harry tries to ignore all the comments that his sister and friends like to make about how he's Louis' sugar baby because one, he's not, and two, he's not. He simply cannot help that Louis has a knack for buying him things and peppering him with so much love. Harry tries to reciprocate the same amount of spoilage towards Louis as well, but Louis is simply unbeatable. "It's my turn to spoil you." 

Louis rolls his eyes. "What if I told you that I picked you and Lillian's outfit for today? Is that allowed, master planner?"

"Yes," Harry blushes, dropping the clothes that he has in hands on the floor and walking over to join Louis on the edge of the bed. He smiles as he buries his head into the crook of Louis' neck, loving his morning, musky scent. "I like when you pick our clothes." 

"What if I also told you that I have our outfits matching?" 

"Oh, Louis Tomlinson please talk more," Harry teases with a groan, giggling into Louis' skin. 

Louis presses a kiss to the top of Harry's head and stands. "It's hanging up in the closet, love. Go get dressed while I take care of Lillian."

Harry eyes Louis suspiciously for a moment before he's complying and walking towards the closet. He's never really had Louis pick out his outfit before, normally Harry is the one that is always trying to get them all to coordinate somehow so he is a little skeptical to see what kind of outfit Louis had pulled together. Louis isn't supposed to have much say in how the day plans out even if Louis is the one who likes to take control of things and make sure everything goes accordingly so Harry knows how hard it is for Louis to take a step back while Harry gets to be the one taking charge. Of course, Louis can only hold back so much, ergo, he's the one that goes out of his way to pick the outfits for the day. Harry actually finds it quite endearing that Louis came up with the idea and actually picked something out for all three of them. If Louis can't control much of their anniversary then Harry thinks it's quite okay if he at least controls how they look for the day. 

Harry steps foot into the closet and sees that his said outfit is currently hanging on the outside of all the clothes, on full display for Harry to look at. Louis picked out a pair of Harry's black skinnies, one Harry hasn't worn since before he even found out he was pregnant. They are actually Harry's favorite pair, and he remembers the day that he could no longer button them over his waist because he was starting to get too pudgy in all the areas that helped him grow his belly. Harry smiles as he runs his finger over the material, actually looking forward to dressing up and getting out the house. Quite truthfully, it's been sweatpants and hoodies and joggers _for months_ , and they have hardly gone anywhere besides the pediatrician or the football stadium so for Harry to put on a pair of jeans he hasn't worn in nearly a year is quite exciting. The jeans are paired with Harry's tan chelsea boots, another one of Harry's favorite thing to wear. Along with that, there is a button up blouse, one that is white in color but has a mixture of floral patterns in different hues of blue. 

Harry smiles as he dresses himself, nibbling on his bottom lip when he goes to unbutton a couple of the top buttons, figuring that showing off his chest is something he can be brave enough to do. Once Harry is done, he steps out into the bedroom and sees Louis and Lillian have returned, now dressed as well in their matching outfits. Lillian's dress is white, the same floral pattern design all over her outfit that directly coordinates to Harry's blouse. Louis, on the other hand, has a blue polo on, one that matches to the different hues that are shading the flowers on both Lily and Harry's outfit. Louis also has on a pair of black shorts with his signature vans, and when Harry gets a look at the entirety to all their outfits, he sniffles, getting slightly emotional that Louis would pick out such a cute thing for them to wear. 

"You okay, love?" Louis questions softly. He walks over to the bed and gently places Lillian down before he's sitting down next to her, keeping on hand in her reach while the other goes to grab Harry. 

Harry laughs wetly, nodding, falling against Louis' chest with a bright smile. "We look so cheesy," he answer. "It's so fucking cute." 

"I saw this online the other day, and I figured it would be a nice fit for the first time we go out as a family." 

Harry wipes under his eyes. "I can't believe I'm crying over how much I love this," he laughs, shaking his head at himself because he really is ridiculous - and, aren't all his pregnancy hormones supposed to be gone by now? 

"Now that we are all ready, what do you have planned for us?" 

"A family breakfast," Harry answers, eyes trailing over to Lillian where she starts to stick her fingers inside her mouth. Harry giggles and grabs them before she gets the chance to do it. "That little diner near the park. We can sit out on the patio - enjoy the day. I'm sure it's beautiful out." 

Louis leans up to press a kiss to Harry's jaw. "Of course today is beautiful. It's the day we had our first kiss. The day the world turned right again." Harry rolls his eyes and playfully smacks Louis' chest. "Alright, lead the way, darling." 

Harry grabs Lillian and heads out the bedroom with Louis following behind. The three of them make it down to the garage where Harry carefully tucks Lily into her car seat before he's getting behind the wheel to drive them to his first destination. Harry ends up taking them to the Brunch place he mentioned that was right near Hyde Park. Since it is a beautiful day out, they are able to get a table out on the patio that has a perfect view of the open area of the park where a bunch of other people are setting up picnics or walking around. It ends up being nice, just the three of them, enjoying this peaceful brunch while also getting the chance to be out and about. Harry and Louis feed each other bites of food, they coo at Lillian anytime she does something cute. They are able to people watch and finally feel the pressure of being parents lift from their shoulders while they also get to enjoy this time of being a family outside their home. It is a breath of fresh air to have a change of scenery and get dressed up to eat out. It is nice asking for a table for two with a high top included because now the majority of Harry and Louis' dates will be including Lillian, their adorable baby. 

After Harry and Louis spend some time eating their food and finishing up with a dessert, they pack Lillian in her stroller and head over towards the park, happily strolling her along while they casually walk around. 

"Is Lily coming to dinner tonight?" Louis questions in the midst of their walk, eyes casting towards Harry and smiling when he sees how refreshed he looks. It really is nice to finally get out the house and come back to the place that started it all. 

"I was able to persuade my mum to watch her tonight." 

Louis raises his eyebrows, humming in interest. "You trying to get lucky tonight?" 

"No," Harry giggles, hip checking Louis. "I figured we spend the day with us three, and then tonight, it's just us two. I mean, we haven't had a proper date you and I since forever." 

They momentarily pause once they reach an open bench by the end of the bridge. The two decide to take a seat so Harry can pick Lily out the stroller and hold her in his lap, turning her to face out in front so she can watch all the people passing by. Louis smiles down at her and presses a kiss to the top of her head before he's focusing back on Harry. 

"What are the dinner plans then?"

"I made reservations at the Japanese place in downtown London. The one you always talk about."

Louis' smile brightens. He's talked about that restaurant for the longest time, but the two of them have never actually had the time to go. Louis and Harry have experienced a lot of different cuisines together since they first started dating - it was one of the perks of getting to travel around the world with football - but the one thing Louis can honestly say he's never had is Japanese, Hibachi food. He's seen it on television. He's heard it from his friends, but he's honestly never had the experience of having his food cooked directly in front of him, and he's been nagging on to Harry for months about how he wants to try it. Quite honestly, Harry doesn't know how Louis has gone this long in life without trying hibachi. 

"You really are trying to get lucky tonight then, Styles," Louis teases after a moment. He places his hand on top of Harry's thigh and squeezes. 

"No, I'm not," Harry reminds. He gently slaps Louis' hand away before he's actually curling himself in to Louis' side, sighing as he goes to lay his head on Louis' shoulder, Lily still comfortably placed on his lap. "I told you, we aren't having sex until our wedding night. We made a pack." 

"We can't break the pack for our anniversary?" Louis argues with a pout, whining under his breath. 

Harry giggles as he nips at Louis' neck. "No. Just trust me, holding off will make it great once we finally get to do it again." Louis grumbles in response. "But, we can do something later on tonight, and I'll even let you pick what it is." 

Louis perks up, eyes widening in interest. "That seems fair." 

"Come on," Harry says with an eye roll, standing up from the bench with Lily still in his arms. He motions for Louis to stand as well and goes to put Lillian back in her stroller once they are both ready to move on. "We still have a lot of time before we need to get ready. Let's walk around some more." 

Louis agrees with a nod, going forward in pushing Lily's stroller. "That's perfect. Gives me more time for my surprise to get ready." 

"Surprise?" Harry squawks. 

Louis ignores his comment and continues to walk. "Come on, dear,. It's time for us to walk around." 

Harry rolls his eyes, opting to not make any further comment that Louis has planned him a surprise despite the fact that Harry is the one that's supposed to be full of surprises today. Oh, well. There are just some things about Louis that Harry cannot take control of, and one of those things happens to be the fact that Louis always has something sweet and lovely up his sleeve when it comes to making Harry happy. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 205,967 likes**

**HarryStyles:** My forever compass. 

//

After spending the better half their afternoon walking around Hyde Park, occasionally stopping at some of the local shops to buy the little knick knacks they see for sale, even managing to buy some things for Lillian in the process, they finally head towards Anne's house so they can drop Lillian of for the rest of the evening. Throughout their mini adventure, Harry had managed to snap a bunch of pictures on his camera that included some of Louis or Lily, even some of Louis and Lillian together. He took a couple selfies as well with all three of them, and Harry really enjoyed the chance of getting to pull his camera out after so long of it being stored in his closet to do what he loves. It was a great couple of hours of their mini exploration of London that Harry was able to document with pictures, but now that they are heading home to continue on the celebration for their anniversary, Harry has to say he's more than excited for this part of their night.

The two of them shortly get back to the flat with a couple hours to spare before they need to head to the restaurant. Harry is the first to step inside their place with Louis following behind, but as Harry makes his entrance, he pauses when he sees their entire flat is filled with bunches and bunches of flowers. Harry's eyes widen as he takes a look at all the colorful petals that light up the room, trying his best to make a note of how many there actually is, but considering the fact that these flowers are taking up all the floor space in the living room, even some of the counter space, Harry knows he wouldn't even have the breath to try and count. 

"What is this?" Harry finally asks, once he gets his breath back. He steps a little further into their flat and grabs the first flower bunch he can reach, the black lillies that are sitting atop the island. Harry's eyes water as he begins to sniff them, laughing because honestly, he was not expecting to come home to a flat overflowing with some of Harry's favorite flowers. 

"It's my surprise," Louis responds with a smile. He walks up behind Harry and presses his chest to Harry's back, arms going around Harry's waist and lips pressing underneath his ear. "There's a flower for each day that we've been together - for each day I've loved you." 

Harry chokes up as he turns to face Louis, green eyes shiny and bright when Louis looks at him. Louis smiles at Harry's reaction and lifts a hand up to caress the side of his face, leaning in to press a gently kiss to the side of his mouth. 

"That's 1,460 flowers, by the way." 

Harry laughs wetly. "That's a lot of bloody flowers." 

"Well," Louis shrugs, turning to face the rest of the apartment where all the other flowers are. "That's a lot of days to love someone, too." Louis turns back to Harry, biting his lip. "I do, though. I love you a lot. Probably since before we even started dating, but I think I knew for sure once we finally kissed. It made my toes tingle." 

Harry giggles, setting the flowers back on the counter so he can pull Louis into a tight hug. "That kiss made my toes tingle, too," he admits softly. Harry pulls back after a moment and presses a lasting kiss to Louis' lips, humming when he feels the exact same thrill he originally felt when the two of them shared their first kiss four years ago. "I love you, too, by the way. If you didn't know." 

"I was wondering," Louis teases.

Harry rolls his eyes and playfully slaps Louis' chest. "I was hoping that the ring on my finger and our wedding date would be enough of a sign." 

Harry goes to walk past Louis so he can fresh up and actually start getting ready for their date, but Louis quickly grabs his wrist and turns Harry back to him, lacing his fingers with Harry's left hand and bringing it up to his face, pressing a gentle kiss to where Harry's engagement ring is resting. Harry blushes. 

"I really am happy you said yes." 

"I really am happy that you took my subtle hints and finally asked me." 

Louis snorts in response, now letting Harry go and following him into the bedroom. "They were not subtle, dear. Anyone with eyes and a brain could see that you wanted to be proposed to." 

Harry scoffs, slightly offended, walking towards the bathroom and turning around to face Louis, hands gripping on to the double doors as he declares, "Just for that, you can shower by yourself," before he's shutting the door.

Louis sits on the bed and lets out a cackle. 

They spend the next hour or so getting ready for their date for the night. Harry takes another quick shower since he spent the day outside and walking around. He wants to make sure he smells good and looks clean, even goes as far as shaving off the very small, almost microscopic, amount of hair that he has growing on his face before he starts applying some product to his curls so they can remain bouncy and frizz free. While Harry picks out the outfit he wants to wear for the evening, Louis hops in the shower.

Harry decides on something simple and black. Normally, he likes to get experimental with his outfits and really explore his options with vibrant colors and fancy patterns, but tonight, he wants to look sleek - sexy, and Louis has always told him that there's just something about him wearing black that really gets to Louis. So, of course, Harry goes with his all black outfit, finding a good pair of trousers that hug his ass and thighs in a delicious way, grabbing a blouse that he can undo the top three buttons of. He even adds a thin scarf to wrap around his neck, hoping that what he's wearing is good enough to make Louis drool, maybe make it even harder for Louis to wait until their wedding night to have sex. Not that Harry actually wants to have sex in this moment, but the thought of being so irresistible to Louis that Louis won't be able to keep his hands to himself is a nice and warming thought for Harry.

Once Harry gets dressed, he waits for Louis in the living room, idly walking around so he can admire all the flowers that Louis had bought for him. The majority he notices are Lillies, different variants of them that Harry is simply adoring. There are some roses as well as tulips, even a few sunflowers that stand out against the different colors of the petals. Harry can feel himself getting emotional again at this thoughtful surprise Louis had come up with, but before he can actually let himself cry and potentially make his face all red and splotchy, Louis is finally walking out into the area and making his appearance known by clearing his throat. Harry's head immediately jerks into his direction. 

"Wow," Harry breathes out, eyes scanning Louis' body. 

If Harry thought he could pull off the all black outfit and make Louis be the one to drool over him, then he really never gave Louis to chance to do the same for him because _fuck_. Staring at Louis right now, with his hair pulled back into a quiff, and his all black attire clinging to his curvy body, Harry is losing all the reasoning right now on why he should be holding off on sex. 

"You look amazing," Harry finally comments. He mindlessly walks away from the flowers and gets right in front of Louis, reaching out to grab the belt loops on his pants. 

"I could the same about you," Louis says in response, smirking, eyeing Harry up and down like he's ready to devour him. At this point, Harry thinks he would be okay with that. "You know what wearing all black does to me." 

Harry bites his lip, blinking. "That was the point," he admits bashfully. "But, I didn't realize what all black does _to me_." 

"I wear all black all the time, love." 

"Yeah, but," Harry pauses, swallowing, taking his turn to eye Louis up and down. "You look _hot_." 

Louis laughs loudly. "I don't think it's the all black, babe. I think it's just me being dressed up. I don't do it very often." 

"Maybe so," Harry agrees airy, already leaning in to capture Louis' lips with his own.

"Okay, as much as I want you to take my clothes off, we need to head out." Louis pulls himself away from Harry and reaches for his hand. "The limo is waiting outside." 

Harry's eyes widen, aimlessly letting Louis guide him out the flat. "You got us a limo?" He gawks in surprise. Louis smiles and nods, to which Harry rolls his eyes to. "Louis, I'm supposed to be the one doing everything today. We agreed. What if I ordered us a limo?" 

"You didn't, baby," Louis giggles. Once they get outside, he opens the back door to the limo for Harry and follows him in. "I love that you planned out today, but you know me - " Harry makes a face at that because of course he knows Louis - "It's hard for me to not be in control. You know I love to spoil you rotten. I had to have _some_ input in today's events." 

Harry sighs, reaching for Louis' hand and tangling their fingers together. "I know, darling. Thank you." He leans his head on Louis' shoulder. "You paid for the breakfast. You surprised me with flowers. You ordered a limo. I should have known you wouldn't sit by quietly. Don't even think of paying for dinner tonight." 

Louis turns his head into Harry's and giggles in his hair. 

"What are you laughing for?" Harry pouts. 

Louis lifts his head up and smiles cheekily at Harry. "Nothing. It's nothing."

After the drive to the restaurant, both Harry and Louis exit out the limo, hand in hand, walking up to the front door and stepping inside where the hostess stand is at. Harry informs the hostess that he has a reservation under his name. The lady then grabs them both a menu and guides them towards the back where one of the larger, special rooms are at. There is an aquarium that takes up the whole back wall of the private room, and the other two walls have a long list of wines out on display. The room is very private and elegant, even small lights dangling from the ceilings that give the room a dim, romantic glow. The hibachi table they are seated at only has two plates out, meaning, they are the only ones who are taking residence in the room. There is already a bottle of champagne and two wine glasses set out, and the rest of the table is decorated in rose petals. Harry eyes Louis suspiciously as the two of them take their seat, thanking the hostess before she is walking out and shutting the door to the room behind her. 

Once they are alone, Harry sets his menu down and looks at Louis, raising an eyebrow. 

"So, I may have upgraded your reservation," Louis admits shyly, avoiding Harry's eyes. 

"You're ridiculous." 

"Now we have this entire private room," Louis argues defensively, weakly smiling, noticing Harry's face looking much softer and happier than he expected. "I told you, I have an addiction of spoiling you."

Harry rolls his eyes and quickly leans over to kiss Louis' cheek. "Well, thank you," he says appreciatively, kissing Louis again. "It really is romantic."

The waiter comes by shortly to take their orders and fill their wine glasses with the champagne. It's quite the experience for Louis since this is the first time he's ever been to a Japanese restaurant, but when the hibachi chef finally comes out and shows off his skills with his cooking supplies, Louis feels like he's in a whole new world. The fried rice is amazing, and Harry laughs at all the egg jokes the chef comes up with when it shows the different ways he can get the egg in the rice. Louis' eyes are fascinated when there is a big fire on the stove and then the onions turning into a volcano. At one point, the chef even pulls out one of his sauce bottles so he can pretend to squeeze it in Louis' direction, and at the loud, high pitch squeal that comes out of him ends up with Harry letting out a horse laugh that echoes around the whole room. Truthfully, it is a fantastic date, and the food is the best thing either of them has had in awhile. They end the dinner with a dessert, a chocolate cake to be exact that has the writing of _Happy Anniversary_ in chocolate syrup around the plate. Once they are finished with everything, paying the bill and tipping everyone graciously, they walk back to the limo to head home. 

The two of them make quick work of getting into their bedroom once they get inside their flat, arms wrapping around one another and lips chasing each other. Harry has his blazer thrown somewhere across the room, and his pants are already unbuttoned with his own hands making quick work of getting Louis' clothes off of him as well. They both fall back on the bed when Louis' shirt is finally off and Harry's pants have finally come off. They continue to kiss and touch, Harry straddling Louis' waist and rocking so beautifully on top of him that it's a big tease for both Louis' cock and Harry's ass. It's hot and messy, with the way their tongues clash together and Louis' hands gripping Harry's ass like a vice. The bed squeaks under them from where they are grinding and moving together, the sound of their wet lips moving together in conjunction with the loud moans that are circulating around the room. It gets to the point where Harry genuinely feels like he could get off like this, but after the fun, romantic date the two of them just had, he wants to get off a different way.

"I wanna blow you," Harry manages to say in between kisses, moving his lips to the side of Louis' mouth and kissing his way down his neck, hand coming in between their bodies so he can press against Louis' bulge. 

Louis tilts his head back and moans. "That is - that is lovely," he responds, mind already in a daze as he bucks his hips up into Harry. 

Harry giggles at Louis' response and slowly kisses his way back up to Louis' mouth. He captures Louis there in the moment with a kiss that lasts longer than most, one that can cool the heat of the moment down so they can just enjoy the way their lips mold together. Harry holds Louis' face gently in his hands while Louis' arms go around Harry's back, keeping their bodies in close as Harry begins peppering Louis with soft, quick kisses. 

"I love you," Harry eventually breathes out, green eyes shimmering in the darkness of the room, the only light being the moon filtering in through the curtains of the window. 

Louis' smile grows as he arches up to kiss Harry again, running his hands up and down Harry's back soothingly. "I love you, too. Happy Anniversary, baby." 

"Happy Anniversary, boo." Harry leans in to kiss Louis once more before he's finally pulling back. "Alright, now let me blow you." 

Louis lets out a laugh as he pushes Harry's head down his body. What a great anniversary this is. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

**♥ 3,556,394 likes**

**LouisTomlinson:** 1460 flowers for the 1460 days we've been together. Happy Anniversary baby! If it's not obvious, I love you so fucking much x

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 **NiallHoran commented:** thats a lot of bloody flowers

**HarryStyles commented:** Best 1460 days of my life xx Love you too baby

//

One of the hardest things for Harry to handle after spending this anniversary with Louis is that the anniversary of Claire's passing follows. It's been one year. One whole year since Harry had to have the hardest goodbye he's ever had. It's been one year since he last saw Claire, since he last heard her voice, and although Harry thinks he's finally grieved and handled Claire's death fairly good, he never really prepared for the day that it's been a whole year of it. Of course, it's been hard for Harry to not think about her death and not spend too much of his time missing her. He'll always miss his cousin, but he never wanted her passing to be something that set him back. It was something Claire never wanted for him. But there were days when it was hard. There were times where Harry would do something fun, or see something that reminded him of her, and all he wanted to do was ring her up and let her know. The best he could do was visit her grave and just talk about absolutely everything, but it's not the same when he knows he won't get a response in return. 

Today, Harry decides to go visit her grave. It's been awhile since the last time he was there. He actually thinks the last time he visited her was when he was in early pregnancy, but now that those months have passed, and Harry's busy schedule finally started to settle, Harry figures today would be best to finally bring Lillian to visit her guardian angel. Harry didn't want to cry today. He didn't want to feel sad. All Harry wants to do is feel relieved in knowing that Claire is now free from her own pain and misery. Harry knows that Claire blessed him and Louis with their baby. He knows that all Claire has done since she passed was sending her positive spirits their way so that they could live the happy life she's always wanted them to have. 

Harry brings a couple bundle of flowers with him as he goes to visit. He's pushing Lillian in her stroller and has everything he needs for a picnic placed in the bottom basket so that he and Lily can really spend some quality time at her tombstone. Once he gets to her grave, he gently sets the flower down on the ground before he's grabbing the blanket to lay right in front of her reading. He pulls the basket out and a bottle of juice, one that its safe enough for Lillian to have as well. When Harry gets everything set up, he pulls Lily out the stroller and takes a seat on top of the blanket, grabbing some of the toys that he packed as well and places them sporadically on the ground. 

"Hi, Claire," Harry greets after a moment. He feels the breeze swiftly blowing past and sees the sun light filtering in through the trees of the graveyard. Harry smiles and briefly glances up. "I brought Lily here. I wanted you to meet her." Harry looks down at Lillian when she starts to coo, and he smiles as he goes to pull her in his lap. "Her name is Lillian Claire Tomlinson - named after my best friend." 

Another wind gush blows by, and Harry is really starting to believe that every breeze he feels is a small response from Claire. It's heart warming and settling, and it makes it seem like her presence is more known. 

"I've been doing good, as I'm sure you've noticed," Harry continues. He aimlessly begins picking at the grass that is around him while Lillian flops around on the blanket, grabbing some of the toys and sticking it in her mouth. "It was hard being a parent at first. I think I had some postpartum depression after having Lillian, but Louis helped. My doctor helped. My therapist always helps. Now, I definitely think I'm in a good place. Still a little insecure about my stomach and my scar, but I heard that takes some time to get over." 

Lily is the one who responds this time, awing up into the sky. Harry giggles as he reaches out to tickle under her chin. 

"I'm sure you also heard about me and Louis setting a date for our wedding. It's in a couple of weeks." After Harry says it, his eyes suddenly widen. "Bloody hell," he then breathes out, looking down at Lillian when she turns her bright eyes up at her dad. "Lily Bean, I'm getting married in a couple of weeks." Harry blows out a laugh and covers his mouth in shock. He hadn't even realize that a couple of months has now turned into a couple of weeks. "Wow, I didn't even realize it was this close." 

Harry giggles again, and this time, it makes Lillian start to laugh as well. 

"What's so funny?" 

Harry jerks his head when he hears a voice coming from behind where he's sitting, softening up when he sees that it's Louis walking up. 

"Louis," Harry smiles, watching Louis come closer so he can sit down next to him. Harry then presses a kiss to his lips. 

"Hi baby," Louis greets, moving on to Lily next and nibbling her cheek playfully, eliciting another giggle from her. "And hi to you my other baby." 

Harry blinks, staring at Louis in wonder. "What are you doing here?" 

"You left the sandwiches in the kitchen," Louis answers, raising two ziplock bags with said sandwiches inside. Harry frowns and glances at the picnic basket, wondering how he didn't even realize he left part of his picnic at home. "Plus, it's nice to have a family picnic with Claire."

Harry lets out a big breath as tears start to fill his eyes. "Thanks for joining me." Harry kisses Louis on the nose. "I was just coming to the realization that our wedding is in a couple of weeks now." 

"Did you forget?" Louis snorts, setting the bags of sandwiches on the ground so he can a hold of Lily. 

Harry shrugs, blushing. "I just remember telling myself that it's so many months away, but when I was telling Claire about it, it hit me. We're getting married _so soon_." 

"You know what's also special about the day we're getting married?" Louis then questions, smiling brightly, rubbing his nose against Harry's. 

"What?" 

"It's when we went on our vacation," Louis admits. "When we probably conceived Lillian." 

Harry groans as he ducks his head onto Louis' chest, slapping his arm. "I thought you were going to say something more romantic." Harry pulls his head back with a pout. 

"Sorry, baby, looks like we got less than a month until you have to deal with me forever." 

Harry brightens up at this. "Sounds like the best thing to look forward to." Harry sighs as he cuddles up next to Louis' side, resting his head on Louis' shoulder and staring at Claire's gravestone. "Less than a month, Claire. Less than one month."

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**HarryStyles:** My forever date. Happy four years to the love of my life and future spouse. Countdown to our wedding day begins xxx

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** Can't wait to marry you 


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably longer than most, but I definitely think it's fitting since this is the WEDDING CHAPTER!!! Ahhhhh. Enjoy.

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**HarryStyles:** Day before the wedding. 

//

It is a bright day - a happy day. The sun is out shining high in the sky, the birds chirping loudly as they fly through the clouds. There's a soft breeze that swifts by to bring the warm summer temperature down to a bearable feel, the limited clouds floating around making the sun rays not entirely too hot. The sound of the running water over the rocks under the bridge is a soothing symphony in comparison to the light, airy music that is playing through the speakers. There are people gathered around, some standing at the altar, admiring the set up, seeing the flowers and the vines woven so beautifully and meticulously through the wooden structure to bring out the vibrant colors of the petals to the white paint of the altar. It really is a beautiful sight. Others are gathered in their seats, anxiously waiting for the ceremony to begin or taking pictures of the decorations that are set up in their little rented spot at Hyde Park. 

All in all, it is the perfect day for a wedding. 

The wedding venue is set up near the bridge in Hyde Park, the one that is above the running water down below that leads into a small pond. There is an open area of grass off to the side on one end of the bridge where they have the ceremony in place. A large Oak tree rests right in the middle of the grass, its hanging branches extending out and bringing shade over the wooden chairs that are lined up in two sections for the wedding guest to take their seats in. The ground is covered in various flower petals - some Lillies, some Roses, even Tulips and Sunflowers find their way into the spread. To the left of the altar, there is a piano, someone sitting at the bench and playing a soft tune to set the mood for whats about to happen. On the opposite end of the bridge, one that is facing the road, are two parked limos, one that is housing Louis and his mother and the other housing Harry and his mother. The plan is for each of them to take turns walking over the bridge and following the short, flowery path down the sidewalk and onto the open grass where the wedding set up is placed under the tree. It's quite the walk for each of them, but since that specific bridge has played such an important role in their relationship, it was something the two of them really wanted to incorporate it onto their wedding day. Overall, everything ran as plan when they had the wedding rehearsal the night prior, and if everything goes accordingly, then Harry and Louis are bound to have the _perfect_ wedding. 

Louis names Zayn as his best man for the big day while Harry claims Niall. The two of them are already up at the altar waiting for their cue for when the grooms walk down and when it's time to give the wedding bands. As the time ticks closer to the start of the ceremony, everyone begins taking their place. All of Louis and Harry's family and friends have gathered for the celebration. Harry and Louis aimed for a private, intimate wedding, not something big and grand that is too over the top. It fits them, especially since they decided to have the wedding at the park. Some of Louis' teammates show up for the event, both their immediate families and close relatives. Some of their friends they have made along the way. Harry even invited Matt and his family to join in on celebration since Matt played a major role in Harry's career with photography. And actually, when it came down to who Harry and Louis wanted to ordain them for the ceremony, they both collectively decided and asked if Matt would do the honors of marrying them. Since neither really went to church or had a strong relationship with the pastors in the town, they really wanted someone who could talk about their relationship and have a personal connection with both of them. It just so happen to work out that Matt was there from the start. He's known Louis, and he knows Harry, and it was all the reason for Harry and Louis to ask him. Of course, Matt agreed without a second thought, and this wedding has absolutely everybody who is important to both the boys attending. It's seriously so perfect. 

When there is finally just shy of a couple minutes for the actual ceremony to begin, the pianist changes the tune to something softer, lighter, signifying that the boys are getting ready to walk.

In the limo, where Louis sits, he sees one of the security guards give his vehicle the warning that he's about to walk, within minutes or so, the guard would be coming up to his door and opening it up, and the start of the wedding would begin with Louis walking down the aisle first with his mother. It takes Louis a second to actually let this sink in and for him to realize he is really about to walk down the aisle to get married. He's known for months, probably years, that Harry is the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with, but for the longest time, it was always _some time_ away. There was always months, weeks, days before it actually came down to his wedding, but now that the actual day is here, Louis isn't entirely sure what to do with himself. All this time he prepared for how perfect he wanted the wedding to go and how particular he wanted things set up that he never actually took the time for himself to really let it sink in that he's about to get married, that he's about to husband.

"Are you okay, darling?" Jay wonders softly, her warm eyes comforting Louis in a way that miraculously makes his lungs open up for him to breathe easier. 

Louis chokes on a laugh. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous."

"It's okay to be nervous," Jay eases with a smile. She moves her hand from Louis' thigh to around his shoulder, tucking him in closer to her side. "I was nervous on my wedding day as well, but, when you first land eyes on the person you know you're about to spend the rest of your life with, nothing else matters, not even how nervous you are." Louis raises his eyebrows and lifts his head from his mother's shoulder, looking at her earnestly. "When I saw Mark, I just knew - I knew that he was the one for me. As nervous as I was to actually be getting married, I was just as excited. Mark was the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I was excited for that happily ever after." 

Louis' eyes then cast to his lap, sighing. "I wish he was here," he admits quietly. 

"I do, too, love." Jay presses a kiss to Louis' head. "He would be very proud of the man you turned out to be - of the father you turned out to be." 

Louis smiles at his mother and feels a couple of tears spring to his eyes. He knew he would be emotional on his wedding day because one, he's about to marry the love of his life, and two, that said love of his life probably looks beautiful beyond words, but having his mother give him the reassurance that he's now someone that even she could be proud of is something that touches Louis' heart in a way that most other things could not. Louis remembers a time when all he did was disappoint his mother and his family, all for the sake of living out his dreams, and he's more than happy that everything turned out okay and that he has everyone that he wants in his life today. He's happy that his mother is here on his wedding day, being the one to escort him down the aisle. He's more than happy that his mother believes that his father would be proud of him, that she's proud of him. 

Their moment is shortly interrupted when the security guard outside his door makes the final signal before he's opening up the door closest to the curb. Louis lets out a big breath when he realizes it's time to get the ceremony started, and he gives one last look at his mother for a final confidence boost before he is stepping out the vehicle and helping guide his mother out. 

"You ready?" Jay asks once they are standing on the curve, facing the long path over the bridge that leads to the open area where the actual wedding it set up. 

Louis glances out at everything and sees that all their guest are now turning in their seats to watch him approach. He sees Niall and Zayn standing up at the altar with bright smiles on their faces and Matt in between the both of them. He sees his sisters sitting in the front row alongside his grandparents and Dan. He sees Harry's sister and her boyfriend, his step father and grandparents all right there with excited looks on their faces. Even their friends, Ellie and Gigi, sitting side by side a couple rows back. Liam and his girlfriend - Ronni and Leevi with their wives. Even Stan is there with a date. Alexi and Wes with Jaxson. Louis notes that Lillian is currently sitting up front in a decorative highchair, surprisingly remaining calm given the fact that she is strapped down and placed near all her aunts. Louis can faintly see the bright smile on her face and the way her frail little legs start to kick out excitedly like they always do when she finds something fascinating or worth laughing about. It's quite endearing, and Louis is once again reminded that the person he is about to marry is the same person who helped create that adorable, little baby, and it's the last and final push Louis needs before he feels ready to take his first step. 

"Let's get married," Louis breathes out. 

Jay and Louis link arms and begin following the path of flowers that are on the ground. The pianist begins playing 1,000 years on the piano by the time Louis and Jay have crossed the bridge, and now that Louis is much closer to the altar and just shy of a few steps from actually being in position to get married, he realizes now more than ever he's ready for this. He's ready to have Harry forever. 

As Louis takes his spot at the altar next to Zayn, Harry anxiously waits for his cue until it's his turn to walk down the aisle. He tries his best to keep from peaking out the window to see how everyone is doing and how Louis looks in his suit. It's quite hard knowing that he and Louis have been separated for a whole day, yet, they are only within a short distance from one another. Harry can't tell if he's actually more anxious about the fact that he's about to get married or that he hasn't seen his future husband since the day prior. Honestly, it's a whirlwind of emotions that he is currently feeling, and Harry is not entirely sure what he's supposed to do to calm himself down. He's not even sure if Louis felt this way before walking out the limo. 

"Harry," Anne's voice cuts in, a small giggle that draws Harry's wild green eyes her way. "Your leg is bouncing too much for me. Calm down, dear." She places her hand on top of his knee so Harry can be aware of what he's doing. 

Harry looks down and blushes as he watches and feels his leg bouncing come to a halt. "Sorry," he mumbles, biting his lip as he looks back up at his mother. "I'm a tad nervous, honestly. This is my first wedding, you know?" 

"Really?" Anne rolls her eyes, laughing. Harry pouts at her reaction. "Sweetie, it's normal to feel like this. Getting married is a big step in a relationship, and a very big change. I would be more concerned if you weren't freaking out." 

"I _am_ freaking out, but like, in a cool way. You know?" 

Anne shakes her head, smiling. "I get it," she agrees, leaning in to press a kiss to Harry's cheek. "Just know that you and Louis deserve each other, and you two deserve all the happiness in the world. I honestly cannot imagine anyone else marrying you and making you happy for the rest of your life. I'm glad you found someone like him to love you forever. Everyone always searches for that soulmate love, and I definitely think you found it. You and Louis are made for each other." 

"Mum" Harry then complains when tears spring to his eyes. He laughs bitterly as he begins wiping at his eyelids, huffing when he knows that he must look a mess now. "You can't make me cry right before I go out." 

"Harry, you've been crying since this morning." 

"I'm emotional, okay?" 

"You're not pregnant again, are you?"

Harry's eyes widen horrifically, shaking his head rapidly no because he knows he is _in fact_ not pregnant. 

Anne lets out a laugh and pats Harry's head. "The tears won't stop, honey. Just let them freely fall." 

In a short amount of time, the security guard is now giving them the signal that it's their turn to make the walk down the aisle. Harry's breath stops short in his throat when he realizes that it's now time, and that after he walks to the altar, it'll be the moment where they say I do, where they become spouses, and the tears just start all over for him. 

"Come on, Harry. Let's go get you married and let Louis deal with your crying." 

Harry groans, but he follows his mother out the car. He continues wiping at his eyes until he feels like everything has dried up, but before he actually makes the move to walk, he turns to his mother one last time. "How do I look?" he questions. 

"Beautiful," Anne answers without hesitation, reaching up to cup Harry's cheek. "You look like you're ready to get married." 

At that, they link arms and begin the walk. 

Harry keeps his eyes trained to the ground as he follows the petalled path over the bridge. He can hear the sounds of the piano playing through the air and hear the small amount of gasps and whispers that come from the guest once he actually gets in full view of them. It takes all of Harry's might to not glance at Louis to see the way he looks under the altar. Harry fears that once his eyes land on his future husband that he'll start crying, that he won't stop crying. He can already feel the tears beginning to form as he and his mother take the final step down the aisle, and he's really not sure how he's supposed to get through his entire set of vows without hiccuping or sobbing for every few seconds. Harry wants to hold on to the last ounce of dignity that he has left before everyone in the crowd truly sees how emotional he can get. For gods sake, they have someone taking pictures of them throughout the wedding, and Harry is truly terrified that once he takes a look at them afterwards, he'll be horrified by how puffy and red eyed he looks. 

Except. 

Except when a pair of shoes that are not vans come into his line of sight, Harry feels like he cannot breathe. Harry is literally so in love that seeing Louis trade out his ragged vans for a pair of nice loafers for their wedding day is enough to make Harry's emotions go on full overdrive. Louis actually did that for them - for Harry. Louis is really in loafers. Harry's eyes immediately flicker up when he notices just how close he is to the person who he's been seeking out all day, and he really cannot be blamed when the tears just start rolling down. Blue eyes lock on to green once they're within reaching distance of each other. It's the first time they finally get to take a look at their tuxedos and see how wondrously they match together, how well they coordinate with the nautical theme. Even Louis has tears in his eyes, feeling the initial wave of emotions rush over him after getting that first look of his husband to be walking down the aisle. Harry has seen Louis cry a handful of times, but he's never seen Louis cry like this - cry from being in love so damn much that it completely consumes him. Harry knows the feeling because once Anne walks him right up to Louis and hands Harry off to him, Harry feels like his heart is beating for an entirely new reason. His heart is beating for Louis. Harry's hand shake when Louis goes to grab them, his breath hitching in his throat from being in such close proximity of Louis that he genuinely feels like he's breathing him in. Harry has known for awhile that this would be the greatest day of his life, but he never knew how truly amazing it would feel inside his heart once he got to the point of actually standing with his husband-to-be under the altar. 

The feeling is fucking powerful. 

"Good evening everyone," Matt finally begins after Harry and Louis get settled by standing side by side and facing him. Matt gives them each a curt nod and goes back to addressing the audience. "I just want to thank everyone who is here for celebrating the union of Harry and Louis in marriage." Everyone begins to clap, and Harry feels his cheeks heating up in a blush. Fuck, he's so excited. "Now, I just want to thank Harry and Louis for asking me to stand up here today to be the one to officiate them. It really is an honor getting to be a part of such a monumental day. I've seen the both of you grow as individuals and as partners over the course of five years, and I'm so proud of the people who you two turned out to be. There is not a more perfect pairing in this world than Louis is for Harry and Harry is for Louis."

A stray tear rolls down Harry's cheeks when he feels Louis squeeze his hand. He can already feel the build up of the past week now really settling within his bones, and Harry is more than ready to get to the part that declares them as husbands. 

"Now, I've known Louis for awhile. Probably since he first joined the academy, and Harry, I don't think you know this about Louis, but in all the years that the two of us have worked in that stadium together, I don't think I've ever seen Louis in my office as much as he was when you first got hired. I mean, every other day, Louis would just walk in, take a seat in front of my desk, and just start talking about you. I'm so serious." 

Harry giggles as he turns to glance at Louis, noticing that there's a warm blush coating his cheeks but that he also has a wide smile on his face. Harry squeezes his hand and focuses back on Matt. 

"Louis would kind of go on and on about how amazing Harry is and how much he deserved the position as my co-photographer. I mean, at one point, I had to ask Louis if he even knew Harry outside of the stadium because the way he was talking about Harry made it seem like they were really good buddies." Matt winks at Louis when Louis begins shaking his head, embarrassment now starting to show just a little. Harry giggles again and hip checks him playfully. "Turns out, Louis didn't know Harry at all. In fact, Louis told me they only met a couple of times, and he was more than sure Harry hated his guts." The audience starts laughing, Harry turning to make a funny face at Louis. "But, there was just something about the way Louis described Harry that really did touch my heart. I mean, at the time, Louis wasn't the friendliest person to be around, but every time he sat in the chair just convincing me to hire Harry, I saw this side of Louis that I've never seen before. Louis smiled when he spoke of Harry. His eyes lit up every time he mentioned Harry's skills with photography. He even laughed at some of the little habits he caught on early of what Harry does, and I was so touched. These two were only months, _weeks,_ into knowing each other, and there was always some sort of pull that drew them in together. " Harry's glistening eyes turn to look at Louis, sharing a soft, gentle smile with him. "I saw it myself. Every game. Every practice. As much as Harry remained unbiased in his photos, I could tell he was always turned towards Louis - that Louis was always turned towards Harry. I feel like I watched their love for each other grow right in front of me, and I remember, the exact moment I knew Harry felt the same way about Louis - it really didn't take me long to figure it out for Louis - but with Harry, I could tell he fell in love with Louis through his photography. He did the one thing not a lot of photographers do." There's a brief pause. "He took a picture of Louis celebrating a goal with his father in the sky, and this was the moment I saw the change in Harry that convinced me there was something there." 

Louis' breath hitches in his throat at the small mention of Mark, and he can feel Harry's hand tightening in his own. Matt smiles at the both of them. 

"Harry loved that picture," Matt continues, chuckling under his breath. "Harry said there was something so earnest and powerful about how Louis responded to his goal that Harry never saw in anyone else that I could see it, and it was then, with the way Harry talked so precisely about Louis in all his photos, when I started to see that shift. I could see the shift in the way Harry looked at Louis - the way he talked about him. It became softer, gentler, sweeter. Every picture Harry took, his favorites always fell on Louis'. It was honestly quite embarrassing being on the tail end of how much Harry and Louis were subtly obsessed with each other, but it was also endearing to know deep down that they loved one another. It was truly beautiful to watch the two of them come to this realization together and finally find one another on this path of love. I have greatly enjoyed being in both of your guys' life and seeing how wonderful the two of you have grown together. I can't say enough times how honored and proud I am to be standing up here today to bring the both of you to marriage. It's really been a long time coming of carefully moving around each other, asking other people about one another, hiding these feelings and then finally embracing them. I looked forward getting to see the two of you live your happily ever after together." 

Once Matt finishes his monologue, he turns to Niall first, nodding. "Will the best man of Harry Styles give him his ring?" Niall smiles as he reaches in his jacket packet pull out the wedding band Harry is giving to Louis. He hands it over to Harry, and Harry takes it carefully in his hold, glancing up at Matt. "Harry, would you like to go first with your vows?" 

Harry lets out a steady breath and nods his head, wiping underneath his eyes so he can look somewhat okay when he starts to say his vows. He quickly turns towards Louis and holds on to his left hand, squeezing tightly when he realizes just how nervous he is to do this. Thankfully, Louis' comforting blue eyes are enough to settle the race of Harry's heart, being some sort of anchor to keep Harry leveled to his spot. 

"Louis," Harry begins, smiling, sighing. "There are not enough words in the world to describe how you make me feel. I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on you how beautiful you looked, despite how little we knew of each other, and despite how terrible our meeting was, there was just always something about you that always drew me in. You accepted me in ways that not a lot of people would. You were proud of who I was before I was even proud of myself. Every little thing I was insecure about, you ended you supporting me and making me feel the most secured. We met at a time in my life where I was scared to be who I am. We met at a time where I was constantly treated like I wasn't worth a place in this world. Overall, we met a time when I thought I didn't deserved to be loved, and you proved to me that I did. You have been the greatest supporter in the four plus years that we known each other, and because of you, I feel powerful. You love for me makes me shine brighter than I ever thought I could, and I hope, for the rest of our lives, I can too make you feel this way. With your hand in mine, and our hearts twined as one, I feel as if we are invincible. You have given me the best four years of ours live together, and I can't wait to spend even more with you - as my best friend, as my husband, and as my co parent. It's you and me against the world, Louis, and I vow to you, today, to be the best spouse that I can ever be to you. I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone, and I'm so excited to tackle this next journey of our lives together with you by my side." 

After Harry finishes, he lets out a shaky breath and notices Louis' eyes are shimmering with tears. Harry giggles under his breath as he finally goes to put his wedding band on Louis' left ring finger, feeling everything inside of his body tingle with excitement now that he's an even closer to step to having Louis as his forever. 

Once Louis has his ring on his finger, then it's his turn to say his vows. Matt ushers for Zayn to do the same as Niall in getting the wedding band to hand over to Louis. Now, it's Louis' turn to grab Harry's left hand, looking in to his bright green eyes and feeling the widest smile stretch his face when he catches a glance at how truly happy and in love Harry is. 

"Harry Styles," Louis starts, pressing a kiss to Harry's hand shortly before continuing. "I have to say, our love was very unpredictable. When I met you for the first time in the tunnel at Stamford Bridge, I never thought there would come a day when our teenager self would be standing at the altar so many years later to get married. Quite truthfully, I wasn't confident that we ever would be _even when_ we did start dating. And it wasn't because that I didn't want to, it was mainly because I feared you wouldn't want to be with the real me." Harry swallows as he squeezes Louis' hand. "My whole life, I was ridiculed as the bad person, the one with the anger issues and relationship problems. There was this negative cloud always shining on me that always drew people away from me, but with you, it was different. You pulled me out of that cloud. Despite all the things people said, despite any issues I had with myself or with my past, you were able to look past it. Instead of running away from the real me, you just kept coming closer. I never once thought I deserved to be loved by someone as great as you. I always used some excuse as the reason to keep myself away from ever being happy, but when you came in to my life, I couldn't find anything. I couldn't find one reason or excuse to keep you away. You loved me in spite of what I had going on in my life. You supported me in spite of all the bad that surrounded me. You stood by my side in spite of all the times I messed up, and you gave me so many chances in spite of all the times I never deserved it. Harry, you are the greatest person I ever met. You have the kindest soul and a beautiful heart made of gold. I still can't believe the two of us are standing up here and I actually get to marry you because you are a walking dream, and I get to be with you for the rest of my life. Harry, I love you so much. Everything about you consumes me, and there is no other person I would ever want to do life with beside you so I vow, to always be your number one - to always be your best friend and husband - to always love you until every fiber inside of my body gives out. I love you more and more everyday, and I am so excited to finally be your husband."

Atlas, Louis places his wedding band on Harry's left finger, and everyone starts to clap. 

"By the power vested in me, I know pronounce you husbands," Matt announces, the audience now standing and cheer. "Go ahead and kiss one another." 

Harry lets out a sound as he goes to cup the sides of Louis' face, wasting no time in bringing him close so they can press their lips together. Louis goes with ease while his arms find their way around Harry's waist, keeping every inch of their body as close together as possible and dipping Harry backwards to the make their first kiss as husbands dramatic. 

Harry giggles as he pulls his hand back a little, fingers curling into Louis' skin when all he can see in this moment are Louis' blue eyes. "We're married" he whispers privately, biting his lip when Louis smiles. 

"Yeah, we're married," Louis repeats, going in for another kiss. 

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

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**LouisTomlinson:** July 28. 

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 **HarryTomlinson commented:** Love you my husband!

**LouisTomlinson replied:** love your new name (; 

//

Everyone gathers at the highest floor of the building just a street over from the park for the wedding reception. After Harry and Louis shared their vows and officially became husbands, the two of them walk back down the aisle with everyone in the audience tossing flower petals in the air. They continue the path back over the bridge and reside in the limo while the guest make the trip towards the reception location. In the mean time, the limo driver ends up taking Harry and Louis' vehicle around the block a couple of times to give everyone enough time to get set up inside. Harry quickly snatches Lillian on his way out so the three of them can enjoy this private time together before they get bombarded with all their friends and family, knowing that the next couple of hours will be so chaotic that they won't ever get the chance to just soak up the fact that they are now officially a family. Once enough time has passed for the guest to transfer from the park to the penthouse room, the limo driver finally pulls up to the building. 

Harry and Louis walk hand in hand into the room, Lilly resting against Harry's left hip while all the people inside start clapping and cheering at their appearance. The sun is finally setting beyond the horizon, and with the entire top floor completed by windows, they have the perfect sight of the city down below cascade in orange . The dance floor, which is out front of the entrance into the room, has a big skylight up above, the moon that is now taking place in the sky creating a soft glow into the room. There are golden and white balloons placed at every table, clothed in a beautiful cream color with a candle and vine decor set in the middle. It is truly a dream come true for Harry as he takes in how gorgeous the entire set up is. All his loved ones are there. All his friends are there. His husband is there. Everyone is happy. His heart is beating rapidly in his chest, and right when he feels like he's about to burst with all this emotion, he feels Louis leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. 

Harry turns to glance at him, smiling. "I can't believe this is real." Lillian ends up making a sound in response, and when Harry glances at her, he sees Lillian with a gummy smile and bright blue eyes looking up at the sparkling chandelier above their heads. Harry giggles and looks at Louis again, still in such shock that this is now their new reality. 

After the excitement of Harry and Louis' entrance into the reception cools off, everyone disperses around the room to do what they please. Some people are at the bar ordering a round of drinks, others are already on the dance floor showing off their moves to whatever song the DJ is playing. Some people are attending to the buffet of snacks while the main course of food continues to get ready in the kitchen in the back. Harry can see his mother and Jay off to the side hugging one another in congratulations, and from what Harry can look of the place, everyone is already having such a great time. He's so happy in this moment right now. He has his husband's arm around his waist, and he has their beautiful daughter in his arms. Harry and Louis end up walking away from the entry and start greeting some of their guest that attend. They have just thanked Matt for his beautiful speech in the ceremony when Alexi is bounding up to them with Jackson in her arms and Wes following behind. 

"Louis, Harry, congrats to you both," she says as she walks up to them. She sets Jackson down to his feet and keeps one hand locked in his while she pulls each of the boys into a bone crushing hug. "You looked amazing up there, and your vows were beautiful." 

"It was lovely," Wes adds in, patting Louis on the shoulder. 

Harry blushes. "Thank you. I'm so happy you guys could make it." Harry's eyes then trail down to where Jackson is shyly hiding behind Alexi's leg. He smiles as he crouches down to his level, holding Lillian in tighter so she doesn't wiggle her way out of his arms. "Hi, Jackson. I haven't seen you in forever."

Jackson cowers a little bit, but with Alexi's hand patting the top of his head, he eases a little bit, stepping more in front of her body so that Harry can see him better. "Hi, Ha," he says to Harry, then looking up at Louis who waves at him. "Hi, Loo." Jackson's curious eyes trail back over to Harry, and he looks wondrously at Lillian who has her arm reaching out in his direction. "Who tis?"

"This is Lilly," Harry introduces with a smile. He turns Lillian around in his arms so that she can fully face Jackson. "She's our baby." 

"His future wife," Alexi snickers into Wes' ear. It doesn't go unnoticed by Harry who glares up at her before looking back at Jackson with a much softer face. 

"You can say hi to her. She loves to hold hands." 

Jackson makes a soft sound under his breath and takes a hesitant step forward. Lillian still has her arm extended out in front of her, and when Jackson goes to hold her frail, little hand, her fingers end up clasping around his wrist. Jackson giggles. "Willy is holding me."

"Willy?" Louis giggles under his breath, glancing up at Alexi for an explanation. 

"He's only four," she reasons with, laughing herself. "He struggles with some letters." Alexi tilts her head towards Jackson and gently pulls him back. "Alright, Jaxy, let's leave the three of them be. They probably have a lot of people they need to say hello to." Jackson groans in protest, but he easily goes when Alexi picks him up. "Say bye to them."

"Bye bye." 

Harry stands back up next to Louis' side and waves at Jackson as Alexi and Wes walk away with him. Harry and Louis still have a bunch of people they need to say hello to and greet so the two of them split from one another to go make their rounds to the guest. Louis ends up taking Lillian in his hold and walks over to where some of his teammates have gathered around. At his approach, the group of them begin clapping obnoxiously and cheering rowdily. Harry, on the other hand, walks over to where Niall and Ellie are lingering around the bar, each of them holding a flute of champagne. When Harry walks to join them, Niall pulls Harry into a big hug and presses many kisses all over his cheek. Ellie congratulates him next, but in a less, more proper manner. After Harry and Louis make their first stop, they continue around the room. They make it to the rest of their friends before ending their thank you's with their immediate family. Harry and Louis receive the biggest hugs and kisses from both of their mothers, and their sisters from both sides express their excitement for the joining of their families. It takes about an hour before Harry and Louis find their way to their designated dinner table, set up right in the middle of the seating area. They have a high chair pulled up next to their seats so Lillian can join them as well, and once everyone is sitting at their desired table, the servers begin passing out the food. 

The sitting area is set up right in front of the stage, where a live band is up getting prepared to take over with the music, but before anybody begins playing, there is someone beating the head of the mic and causing a static noise to take over the speakers. When Harry and Louis look up on stage to see what is going on, their eyes end up falling on Niall and Zayn. 

"Oh, no," Harry groans, pressing his hand to his temple and giggling. Louis smiles in response and places his hand on Harry's back. 

"Greetings, everyone," Niall speaks first, a wide smile on his face as he surveys the crowd sitting at their tables. His eyes land upon Ellie, and she lets out a loud whoop before Niall is continuing. "I just want to start off by saying how happy I am for Harry and Louis. As Harry's best man and best friend, all I ever want for him is to be happy and be with the right person. I can honestly say it has been a long road of Harry and Louis getting to this point in their lives, but truthfully, I'm so happy that it all worked out for you both in the ned. I can say, I don't think I've ever seen Harry his happiest or most in loved than when he is with you Louis so, thank you, for taking care of my best friend."

Harry breathes a little better when realizes his friends being up there is something innocent and not crazy. He catches Niall's eyes and shares a thankful look with him, and then Niall is passing the mic over to Zayn. 

"I also want to congratulate the newlyweds. I, for one, cannot express how happy I am for Louis that he has managed to find the one person in the world who is willing to put up with his crap everyday." Zayn earns a few chuckles, and he definitely earns a death glare from Louis. Zayn smiles cheekily and lifts his champagne glass in the air towards him. "Honestly though, as your best friend, I'm glad you found someone to love and be loved by. Since we've became friends, I wanted the best for you, and I think you are at the point in your life where all you have _is the best_. I'm glad of the person you have become, Louis, and I wish you and your husband many more years of happiness. The two of you are meant to be together, and I'm glad I got to witness how perfect the two of you are for another. Cheers."

"With that being said," Niall interrupts, now having his own microphone. Harry raises his eyebrows when he realizes Niall now has a pair of black aviators resting atop his head, a little eery as to what they actually have planned. "It's time for the grooms to have their bestest men perform a lovely song about how much they love each other." 

"Of course, with embarrassing pictures of the both of them showing up on the screen behind us," Zayn winks. 

Harry gawks and quickly turns to Louis, both sharing a look of bewilderment. "Who let them on that stage?"

"This song is called _The Tommo Rap_ ," Niall introduces. 

"The Tommo Rap?" Harry squeaks. 

The beginning theme song of Fresh Prince starts to play, and Niall hands over another pair of aviators to Zayn so that they wear them together. Lottie, Fizzy, Daisy, Phoebe and Gemma end up running on stage from where they were apparently hiding behind the curtains, all wearing matching glasses in addition to the sideways cap on top of their head. Louis breaks out into a loud cackle when he sees the lot of them performing a choreographed dance on stage while Zayn and Niall go on about rapping their lyrics. 

_Now this is a story all about how_   
_Harry and Louis had met in this town_   
_And I'd like to a minute_   
_It's a moment you won't dread_   
_A story about how Harry never called Louis a dick head._

Harry covers his mouth when he nearly lets out a horse laugh, seeing everyone at the tables laughing in unison. Harry shakes his head and chances a look at Louis, seeing pure amusement in his eyes as their best men continue their ridiculous rap on stage.

_In London, England currently living_   
_On the football pitch was where the two of them had met_   
_Yellin out screamin and hatin with words_   
_And Harry didn't even know who Louis had was_   
_When a couple of times they met outside the field_   
_Speaking started to get a lil easier_   
_They got in one little fight, we all got scared_   
_Saying, You need to start embracing this love in the air_

_The hate disappeared and the happiness came near_   
_They soon practiced I love you's into the mirror_   
_And they couldn't help but be together for 4 years_   
_But who wouldn't guess, cause their loves in the air_

_Now with, a new born baby and her name is Lily_   
_Making her daddies a little bit silly_   
_And we look at their family_   
_With everything there_   
_because guess what? Their loves in the air_   
  


The group of them finish in the center of the stage in their final poses, and everyone in the audience stands to clap at the performance. Harry and Louis share a look with one another before they join everyone else in cheering on Niall and Zayn. Despite how annoying the two of them can be at times, even going out of their way to put up embarrassing pictures in a slide show up on the screen behind the stage, Harry and Louis really enjoy the rap that the two boys took the time to make. It was genuine and sweet, and neither Louis nor Harry can honestly say they've never seen a best man perform a rap song at a wedding until now.

After the audience calms down and everyone takes their seat again, Gemma grabs the microphone from Niall and walks to center stage, smiling straight ahead to where Harry and Louis' table is at. "Now, can I have the grooms and their mothers meet on the dance floor. It's time for the mother and son dance." 

Harry and Louis stand from their seats when they see Jay and Anne walking out on to the dance floor, both of them stand in the middle and smiling widely at their sons. Louis takes Harry's hand and guides him around the table so that they can walk and join their mothers. They leave Lillian at the table where Liam comes to sit next to her so he can entertain her while her daddies go do their dance. Louis hands Harry off to his mother while he walks over to his own, smiling so wide the crinkles beside his eyes are showing. Jay gets a hold of Louis and wraps an arm around his shoulder, being the one to twirl them away so they can dance together. 

"How does it feel?" Jay asks Louis privately, looking up at her son with the utmost proud look on her face. 

Louis lets out a breath. "I feel like I'm living a dream," Louis responds truthfully, catching Harry's eyes in the midst of Anne twirling him in a circle. Louis giggles and looks at his mother again. "I'm really happy you're in my life again. I know I was an idiot when I was a child -"

"Louis," Jay interrupts, shaking her head. "You don't need to apologize to me. You followed in your father's footsteps and chased after your guy's dream - I'm so proud of you. Mark would be so proud of you. You turned into the man that the both of us knew you could be, and I'm happy you found someone like Harry. You two are perfect together."

Louis lets out a shaky breath and feels a tear roll down his cheek. He notices that his mother has tears as well, and lets out a little chuckle before he's pulling his mother into a hug. 

"You're staring." 

Harry's head jerks at the sudden sound of his mother and realizes that he has been staring at Louis. Flushed in embarrassment, he drags his eyes away from Louis and Jay to finally look at his mom. "Sorry," he giggles, biting his lip. "I just can't believe I am married to him."

"Believe it, sweetheart. The first day to the rest of your life starts today." 

Harry and Anne and Louis and Jay dance around until the rest of the song finishes, and then the line to the music is getting cut off. Harry and Louis pull away from their mothers and turn towards the stage where they see a spotlight dimming on the center where someone is starting to walk out. Harry gasps once he gets the perfect view of who it is that is now on stage and abruptly steps away from Anne, jerking his head into Louis' direction. 

"Is that Ed Sheeran?" Harry squeals, mindlessly walking towards Louis who is smirking. 

"Surprise?" Louis giggles as he reaches for Harry's hand, lacing their fingers together and pulling Harry in his hold, their mothers now leaving the dance floor. 

"Good evening, everyone," Ed Sheeran speaks into the microphone. He has his guitar strapped around his body, and he surveys the entire room until his eyes land on Harry and Louis out in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone else is gathered around, now pulling their phones out and beginning to record. "This song is for the newlyweds. It's about being in love through all the stages in life, and I'm happy to perform this live for the first time at Harry and Louis' wedding."

Harry sucks in a breath when Ed begins playing, feeling the warm comfort of Louis' arms going around his waist and guiding him around the dance floor as if Louis knows exactly what Harry's next move is going to be. Harry easily falls into Louis hold as a couple tears fall down his cheeks. He rest his head on Louis' shoulder and smiles as he takes in all the teary eyes that are admiring him and Louis.   
  


_When your legs don't walk like they used to before  
_ _And I can't sweep you off of your feet  
_ _Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love  
Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks_  
  


Harry wipes his eyes and pulls away from Louis' shoulder, resting his forehead against Louis' and sharing this private moment together. "How did you get Ed _freaking_ Sheeran to play at our wedding? Are you in a secret band?" 

Louis giggles as he presses a kiss to Harry's lips. "It took a lot of work, but Zayn and Gigi were able to use their contacts to talk to Ed's manager." 

"We're not broke now, are we?" Harry snorts, cackling a little when Louis rolls his eyes. 

"Not quite. We might have to turn off all our power and eat grass for a couple weeks, but I think we'll recover." 

Harry giggles. "You're stupid."

_And darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70_   
_And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23_   
_And I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways_   
_Maybe just the touch of a hand_   
_Oh me I fall in love with you every single day_   
_And I just wanna tell you I am_   
  


"Hey, baby," Louis says in the midst of their dance, Ed Sheeran belting his lyrics in the background. "I love you."

Harry's face breaks out into the goofiest smile. "I love you, too ... husband."

//

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**HarryTomlinson:** Spouse has a nice ring to it. 

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**LouisTomlinson commented:** Your finger has a nice ring on it

//

Harry, honest to god, loves his family so much because when the last of the guest are finally leaving the venue, he has a handful of people that are willing to watch Lillian while he and Louis go enjoy their wedding night, _alone_. It doesn't even take much convincing or begging for Louis' sister to take Lily out their hands and make sure they have all her necessities so they can take her back to the house. Thankfully, it leaves Harry and Louis alone for the night, and they quickly run hand in hand to the limo so that they can be driven back to their empty flat and spend the rest of their night together without worrying too much about other responsibilities. 

They barely make it inside the flat before Louis is closing the door by pressing Harry's body up against it, his hands making their way underneath Harry's shirt and winding them around his back. Harry lets out a shaky breath when Louis' lips press all down his neck until he's reaching Harry's shoulder where it's exposed from his slipped shirt. It's electrifying with the way Harry feels from Louis' touch. He's been touched plenty times before by this very man in front of him, and he's been loved by him too, but after going so many months of these touches and kisses leading no further than just a quick session, Harry can now feel everything inside of him building up. The tension is there, and with every press of Louis' skin on his body heats up in flames. With the press of Louis' lips against his own, there's a spark that ignites deep within his bones that has him craving for more, and when all they do is continue to make out against the door and rub off against one another, Harry just can't take it anymore. 

"Fuck, Louis, do something," Harry finally whines, tilting his head back against the door. His leg drops from Louis' hold, something he didn't even realize that was against his hip, and Louis steps back, laughing. Harry frowns. "What?"

Louis shakes his head, continuing to laugh as he grabs Harry's hand to lead him towards the bedroom. "I haven't gotten to snog you silly all day, and you want me to do more." Louis pulls them both in the room and shuts the door behind him, gently pushing Harry by the shoulders towards the bed. "Excuse me if I want to get a proper taste of you." 

"There are plenty of other places on me that you can taste," Harry huffs. He plops down on the edge of the mattress and crosses his arms over his chest, eyebrow raised when Louis starts to unbutton his trousers. "That's more like it," Harry smirks.

Louis rolls his eyes and sheds his top quickly. "This only works if you get naked as well, love." 

"Oh," Harry ends up saying, mood suddenly shifting. Harry glances down to his lap where he twiddles his fingers together, letting out a shaky breath at the thought of being naked in front of Louis again. It's been awhile, and ever since giving birth, he's done everything he can to make his body go back to how it used to be before he was pregnant, but of course, it's hard. Harry's still insecure. 

"Hey," Louis eases, stepping out of his pants and walking closer to Harry, tilting his head up with a press of his finger to Harry's chin. "You can trust me." 

Harry finally smiles, fingers now gripping the bottoms of his shirt. "I know. I know. It's just been awhile. I've been waiting for this night for a long time, but now that it's here, I feel like a nervous wreck." 

"We can take it slow." 

" _For now_ ," Harry smirks. 

It takes a second for Harry to give himself the confidence to finally get his clothes off, but with a slow, steady breath, he stands from the bed, switching spots with Louis and standing in front of him. First, Harry goes for his pants, easily unbuttoning them and letting them slide down his legs. He went commando for the day, and hearing Louis' grunt in response to the revelation knows he went with the right choice. Next, Harry starts unbuttoning his blouse, fingers nervously fidgeting with each button until his chest is being shown from the opening of his shirt. Before Harry gets the chance to take the final piece of clothing off, Louis draws him in, pulling Harry on to his lap and getting his arms underneath Harry's blouse and around his waist. Harry smiles at the gentle caress and holds the sides of Louis' face, leaning down to press their lips together. This is when Louis starts to push Harry's blouse off, letting it fall down his arms until Harry has to remove his hands from Louis' face so he can let it drop to the floor. Finally, being on the bed naked together, Harry smiles, giggling, pressing his lips deeper into Louis' as Louis rolls them over, pushing Harry into the mattress while his hands run down the length of Harry's sides.

"Condom or no condom?" Louis questions breathlessly in between kisses, smirking against Harry's skin when he hears him scoff.

"Condom, Lewis."

Louis rolls his eyes and pulls back, resting on his thighs and admiring Harry laid out below him. "I just wanted to make sure, love. I remember how much you loved sex without it."

"Stop it," Harry groans, lazily slapping Louis' chest before wrapping his arm around Louis' back, drawing him in closer. "No small talk. I've waited a long time for this." 

Louis easily falls back into Harry's hold by slotting himself in between Harry's legs. He continues to kiss Harry through the first press of his fingers inside of Harry, working them gently in and out and spending his sweet time in stretching Harry out. Louis trails his lips up and down the expanse of Harry's neck, Harry's fingers digging into the meat of Louis' bicep in retaliation to the slow drag of Louis stretching him open. It doesn't take long for Harry to be relaxing into the mattress and spreading his legs wider for Louis to do more. He gives the okay with just a look before he's yanking Louis in for another kiss to distract the tight burn he feels when Louis' cock finally pushes inside the tight ring of his hole. Harry tosses his head back when the drag feels overpowering, curling his fingers deep in to the mattress while Louis continues to push, and push, and push until he's all the way in, resting right up against Harry's ass with a loud sigh of relief. 

"Fuck, you feel great," Louis breathes out, dropping his hands on either side of Harry's head and hovering over him, smiling, leaning in to press a kiss against his lips. 

Harry lets out a deep whine as he adjusts to the feel of Louis inside of him, after going so many months without being connected like this, he now has the overwhelming feel of being so full and loved. Harry doesn't realize he has tears in his eyes until Louis is padding some away on his cheek. Harry blinks and looks up into the comfort of Louis' blue eyes, reaching a hand up to hold the side of his face as he draws him back in for another kiss, tangling their tongues together when Louis first starts to draw his hips back. A breathless gasp airs its way out of Harry's mouth once Louis starts picking up a rhythm, finding a steady pace in drawing his hips back and forth and pushing Harry closer and closer to his breaking point. Harry sees stars when he finally releases in between their bodies, breathing out a moan in the room before Louis' lips are attacking his own to swallow down every sound Harry threatens to make. Louis continues to ride out his high until he's finally finishing himself in the condom, Harry's legs tightening around Louis' waist while his fingers dig into the meat of Louis' shoulder blades. 

"Fuck," Louis breathes out in the midst of the heat, raising up on his hands and dipping his head into Harry's necking an attempt to catch his breath. When Louis' heart continues to beat rapidly in his chest and his skin prickling with sweat, he laughs, slowly waiting until he's able to pull out and roll over to the empty spot next to Harry. "That was - " Louis begins, looking up at the ceiling with a bright smile. 

Harry bites his lip and turns on his side, cuddling up to Louis and wrapping his arms around him. "I can't believe I waited this long to have sex again. Look at what we've been missing." 

Louis rolls his eyes as he presses a kiss to Harry's forehead, arm going around Harry's back so he can comfortably bring Harry in to his body. "Like you said, the build up made it better."

Harry smiles, closing his eyes, tucking his head underneath Louis' chin and resting his hand on top of Louis' chest. 

"So," Louis says to break the silence, tilting his head back so he can look at Harry. A furrow forms between Harry's brows as he opens his eyes, blinking up at him, questioning. "Aren't you even curious to know where our honeymoon is?" 

Harry twists his lips, lifting off the bed a little bit. "Honeymoon? We're going on one?" Harry questions, Louis nodding in response. "Don't you have the Olympics in like a week?" 

"It's in two week baby doll." 

Harry hums. "Okay, where are we going?" 

"It' was honestly very hard to think of where to go when the two of us have been all over the place." 

"Come on, Louis. Just tell me." 

Louis bites his lip and relaxes back into the pillow, tucking his free arm under his head and closing his eyes. "You'll find out when we board the plane in nine hours." 

"Louis," Harry cries in annoyance, slapping Louis' on the chest. 

"Happy wedding day, baby." 

//

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**HarryTomlinson:** Woke up with a husband. 

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** oi! did you steal this one? 

**HarryTomlinson replied:** just stole his last name is all


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe this story is now at the finish line. I'm so happy with how everything turned out and all the new readers I got to meet. Thank you for all the kind hearted comments. x
> 
> This is the last chapter before the Epilogue.

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**HarryTomlinson:** Just spouses on a beach x

//

"Harry!" 

Harry huffs in annoyance when he can hear the slight irritation in Louis' voice. He stops running and pauses where he's at in the middle of the field, turning around and tossing his arms in the air, helplessly, left foot resting on top of the football that is on the ground. "What do you want from me? I'm doing my best." 

"I know," Louis snorts, rolling his eyes, softening up with a smile. He jogs the couple of yards that separate him and Harry to get in front of him, reaching out for Harry's hand and holding on it. "That's whats sad." 

Harry scoffs, offended, pulling his arm away. "You asked me to help you train so this is me helping." 

"You've tripped ten times -"

"It was five," Harry corrects with an eye roll. 

Louis continues, unaffected. "You've also kicked the football into the stands about twenty." 

"I hate when you have to practice," Harry whines in retaliation. He ends up kicking the ball off to the side and slumps to the ground with a loud groan, laying on his back and using his arm to cover his eyes. 

Unfortunately, having a honeymoon scheduled right before the Olympics means that Louis has to find time to train. The only way this vacation could happen is if Louis could work out and practice his skills. It worked out that there is a football stadium not too far from the resort that Harry and Louis are staying at. Every morning, Louis wakes up early to get a jog or a quick work out in, then following up by spending an hour or so at the stadium. So far, Harry had managed to join Louis every morning on his training, wanting to be by his side and spend as much time with him before they have to be separated by the craziness of the Olympics. Harry understands it, but still, it is rather annoying when he has to help Louis train by being the other opponent. 

"We're done by ten every morning, dear." 

Harry lifts his arm up, eyeballing Louis. "Wouldn't you rather spend your morning having sex?" 

Louis raises an eyebrow, toying with the idea in his head. 

"Is that really something you have to consider?" 

"Baby," Louis laughs, joining Harry on the ground by sitting next to him. He pulls Harry up by his shoulders and then wraps an arm around him, yanking Harry into his side and pressing a kiss to his sweaty forehead. "We've had sex everyday. Don't tell me you're sex deprived." 

"I'm not, Lewis," Harry groans into Louis' neck. He tightens his arms around Louis' chest and then leans into him until the two of them are laying back on the turf. Harry smiles as he cuddles into Louis' side, sighing, fingers curling into Louis' sweaty shirt. "I just don't want to practice anymore. The poolside cocktails are calling my name, and I need to tan. I'm peachy." 

Louis' hand sneaks down Harry's back until he's pinching Harry's ass. "I like your peachiness." Harry grunts. "Give me ten more minutes, please, and then we can go back to the resort, okay? Lots of sun, and cocktails - maybe more sex." 

"Just ten minutes?" Harry questions wearily. "Fine," he responds when Louis nods, slowly getting up so he can pull Louis to his feet as well. "Do your drills, and I'll call my sister." Harry points to the bench. "I'll be over there."

Louis presses a kiss to Harry's lips. "Okay, baby. I'll finish up here." Louis jogs past Harry to go fetch the ball that was kicked off to the side, getting it under his control so he can finish up with the last bit of his practice by working on his foot techniques. 

Harry rolls his eyes as he walks over to the sideline bench. He watches Louis on his way over, but once he gets seated, he pulls his phone out and immediately dials Gemma's number for a videocall. 

" _Wow, it's been ten hours since the last call,_ " is Gemma's greeting, an eye roll once she's in view of the camera. 

"I'm sorry," Harry pouts, not even meaning his words because at the sight of Lillian's head making way into the bottom of the screen is enough to make Harry's eye light up in excitement. "I just miss my baby." 

" _You've been gone for four days_."

Harry sees Lillian's head pop up even more on the screen, and when he actually gets to see the sight of her face, he starts to coo, which just makes Lillian get giggly. 

"My Lily Bean, do you miss your daddies?" Harry questions his little girl, a wide smile spreading across his face when Gemma lowers the camera so Lillian can be seen more. "Oh, you're so pretty, aren't you? The cutest baby ever."

" _She looks just like you Harry, it's crazy._ "

Harry waves at the camera when Lily reaches out to touch the screen of whatever Gemma is doing the video call on. "She looks like Louis, too. Come on. She has his eyes, and his nose - possibly his skin." 

" _But your curls. Your lips. Your ears. Your eyebrows._ " 

"She's a sweetheart like, Louis." 

Gemma gags. " _Please, I did not answer this call so you can boast about your husband. I did it so you won't bother me for any more Lily content. She's doing good. All her aunties are in Lily heaven._ " Gemma shifts Lily on her lap and reaches for one of her toys that is out of view. Once Lillian gets a hold of the toy, she immediately brings it to her mouth to suck on. " _She has been very fussy lately. Is she teething, H? She loves sucking on this toy._ " 

"Touch her gums." 

" _I'm not bloody touching anything._ "

Harry rolls his eyes, glancing over where Louis is kicking the ball around some cones, humming in thought. "Louis looks good." 

Gemma gags again. 

"What?" Harry whines, looking at the screen again. "He does. If I have to sit at this bloody football stadium then I might as well enjoy my view."

Gemma ends up changing the subject shortly to _anything_ else other than about how good Louis looks when practicing. They talk about random things to pass the time until Louis is finished with his morning workout. Louis runs over to join Harry on the bench and sits down next to him, wrapping and arm around his shoulder and pressing a kiss against his neck. 

" _You two are gross,_ " Gemma comments when Harry giggles, rolling her eyes to the side. 

Louis ignores the comment. "Where's my baby?" 

Gemma sighs as she lowers the camera again, now putting Lillian on the screen who drops her toy upon seeing both her daddies. Lily opens her mouth wide and coos. 

"Oh, my pretty girl. Is Aunt Gemmy treating you like the perfect princess you are?" Louis questions in his best attempt at a baby voice, using his finger to touch the screen, his closest thing to actually touching his baby. 

"Aunt Gemma has been spoiling her with a bunch of toys," Harry answers for her. 

Lilian giggles. 

" _Okay, guys. Go back to your vacation. You can see Lily Bean when you get back. I'm sure drinks and the beach is calling your name._ "

Harry pouts, whining deep in his throat, looking at Louis for help. 

Louis laughs. "Babe, you've been complaining about going to the pool since we got here, and _now_ you want to stay?" Harry makes a face, going back to the screen again to look at his daughter. "Alright, Gems, we'll let you be. Enjoy my baby girl." 

" _Bye guys. Enjoy the honeymoon._ " 

After the two of them hang up the phone with Gemma and Lilian, they head back to the resort so they can change into their pool clothes. They make quick work in finding some open lounge chairs right along the edge of the pool that is closest to the bar. The area they find have palm trees hanging above that gives a nice shade to where they set up for the current hour they are at. Behind the lounge chairs, there are bushes filled with pink Hydrangeas, some coconuts lying on the ground and the smell of sea water sifting through the air. Harry lays out a towel on top of his lounge chair and rubs some lotion on to his skin before he's lying back and covering his eyes with the ray bands on top of his head. He lets out a content sigh once he gets situated, resting his hands on his belly and tilting his head down so he can glance up at Louis through the top of his glasses, smiling cheekily when Louis raises an eyebrow. 

"Why do you look run down?" Louis snorts, laying a towel over his own lounger and sitting on the edge, reaching out to rest a hand on top of Harry's thigh. 

"I woke up at six this morning," Harry complains, pulling his glasses further down his nose, now full on looking at Louis. 

"To give me a blowie." 

Harry scoffs as he scrambles to sit up. "That is not - no. That is not true." 

"Just face it, you're exhausted because you're a sex heathen." 

"I'm tired because you make me practice with you _every_ morning," Harry states _matter-of-factly_. "Now I'm parched and in need of a margarita." 

Louis giggles as he leans over to press an obnoxious kiss to the side of Harry's cheek, keeping him in place by the hold he has on the back of Harry's neck. "When the worker walks by I'll order us one. Want any food?" 

Harry nods, closing his eyes when Louis continues to kiss the side of his face. 

Harry lays back on his lounger once Louis pulls away. They rest for a little bit longer until Louis is able to flag down one of the poolside waitresses to put their order in. Two margaritas and a sampler appetizer soon make it's way over to the two boys, and they easily enjoy both things while watching all the people that are around the pool area. The couple of drinks end up turning into a few more, and by the time each of them have had four, they are giggling in to each other's neck and animatedly cheering for the volleyball game that is going on in the pool. Louis continues on watching the game while Harry's eyes drift off somewhere else, noticing that the kiddie pad is not too far away from where they are sitting. Harry's interest peaks when he sees little children running around the area, some going down the water slide and others playing with the water sprouts that are on the ground. There's a warm feeling that flushes through Harry's body when he catches sight of a little girl, looking to be around three years old, who grabs a hold of her mother's hand, dragging her over to the waterfall station so that the bucket above their heads can dump an influx of water on them. The little girl ends up giggling like a maniac when the two of them get drenched from the waterfall, and Harry finds himself smiling at such an endearing sight. 

"What are you thinking about?"

Harry jolts at Louis' voice and quickly jerks his head in Louis' direction, noticing that he's now sitting and staring back at him as if he's slightly crazy. "What?"

"You're smiling like a maniac." 

Harry frowns. "I am not," He complains. 

"What are you thinking about, love?" Louis repeats the question, a softer tone, reaching out to grab a hold of Harry's hand to lace their fingers together. 

Harry squeezes his hand and turns to look at the little girl again, now noticing her splashing through the water pad. "I'm thinking about our family," he answers truthfully, hearing Louis hum in response. Harry glances at Louis again, smiling. "I'm thinking about us - in the future - going on family vacations like this with our children." 

"Children?" Louis repeats lightly, biting his lip. He scoots further to the edge of his seat so he can get closer to Harry, now being able to use his free hand to rest on top of Harry's stomach. "You want more?" 

Harry shrugs as he looks at his stomach, finally flat and relatively back to it's normal looking appearance. He does try to ignore the scar that is underneath his belly button, but besides that, Harry's pretty okay with how he looks now. It's been long enough. 

"I think it would be nice to have a few more," Harry answers truthfully. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to actually have them myself, but, yeah, I would like more."

The grin on Louis' face widens so much that crinkles form by his eyes. "I definitely like having babies with you. You're cute when you're pregnant." 

"Shut up," Harry giggles, lazily slapping Louis' arm, groaning a little. "You remember what Dr. Walls said. I have a much lower change of getting pregnant now - probably lower than an actual, normal male - it'll probably be even more of a miracle for it to happen twice." 

Louis smirks, bringing Harry's hand up to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. "Doesn't hurt to at least try though ... A lot." Harry rolls his eyes. "If it does happen again, can you give me a boy?" 

Harry scoffs. "What?" He questions, mock offended. "Is my beautiful Princess not good enough for you?" 

"I love my little girl, of course I do." Louis shrugs, letting out a deep breath through his nose. "But, you know, having a boy would be nice, too. I want one of each. I'm selfish."

Harry's face softens at the confession, feeling his body warm up even more than it already is. "I would like both, too. I want to give you both." 

"Come lay with me." 

Louis smiles as he pulls on Harry's arm so he can stand. Once Harry is on his feet, Louis scoots over on the lounger to give him some room, gently guiding him down until he's got Harry perfectly tucked into his side. Louis wraps an arm around Harry's shoulder and presses a kiss to the top of his head, humming when Harry nuzzles his face into the crook of Louis' neck. Harry lets out a content sigh once he gets comfortable, placing his leg over Louis' hip and smiling when people walk by and subtly glance their way. 

"You know," Louis mumbles, rubbing a hand up and down Harry's back. "If all these people weren't here, I'd totally be feeling you up." 

Harry snorts, trying to hide his laugh into Louis' neck. "Louis!" 

" _What_? I'm being serious." 

Harry continues to giggle. 

"I would love to see your peachy butt." 

"It's not peachy," Harry complains. 

Louis rolls his eyes. "It's so peachy - tastes like a peach, too." 

"Can we go back to the room to find out?" 

Now, it's Louis who snorts, letting out a loud cackle. "Harry Styles, I cannot believe how much of a sexual heathen you have become. What happened to my shy sixteen year old boyfriend who was terrified of sex? I miss him." 

"It's Tomlinson now, Tomlinson," Harry chastises, a bright smile on his face as he leans in to kiss Louis' nose. "I still can't believe how far we have come. I still can't believe we are married. We're married, _and_ we have sex. Who would have thought?" 

Louis sighs thoughtfully, running his fingers through the strands of Harry's curls. "I know. Time really does fly." Harry hums in agreement. "One minute you hate me, and the next minute you're marrying me. What's going on in that head of yours?"

"Being in love. I'm in love with you." 

"That's good. I'm in love with you, too." 

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** what a damn sight. 

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 **HarryTomlinson commented:** I told you to NOT post this ...

//

Rio is hot. It's so fucking hot, and if Harry thought sitting underneath the Hawaiian sun for his honeymoon was blazing enough, then he never thought to consider what it felt like to be sitting in a football stadium with the hot Rio sun beaming down on him. Plus, he didn't consider what it is like for it to be so hot while also holding on to his almost five month old baby in his lap who won't sit still because she is, too, also hot. Harry wishes he can go back to the time where he could just jump in the pool to cool off and maybe sip on a frozen margarita that always send a shiver throughout his body. Harry just wishes that they never left their resort because then that means he wouldn't be here, sweating, melting, completely parched. Harry wants his bottle of water that is in the side pocket of the bag that he brought for both he and Lillian, but with how fussy Lillian is being right now, he can't really move. He's fucking stuck, and hot, and sweating, and he might be going a little stir crazy from the heat and lack of water. 

Fuck, and Harry's supposed to be watching Louis play in the Olympics right now, maybe even take some pictures since he hasn't gotten to do this in awhile, but Lillian is being a good enough distraction to prevent him to do anything other than to sit in his chair. 

"Do you need help?" 

Harry groans and turns his head to the side, glaring at Alexi who is trying to a hide a giggle behind her hand, her perfectly controlled son sitting happily in his own seat with a tablet to distract him from the heat. Harry rolls his eyes at how annoying the two of them are being. "I can handle my child," he grumbles. Lillian squirms some more, and where her frail, little fingers are reaching up towards Harry's hair, she ends up grabbing a handful and pulling. Harry winces. "Ouch, Lily Bean."

"She's probably hot," Alexi comments, bending over so she can grab her own bag, rummaging through it to find something to help. "I think I have a fan with a mister. She might need that." 

"Okay, yes, I'll take it," Harry agrees desperately, trying to situate Lillian better on his lap so that she doesn't squirm her way off of him. Harry huffs and sits her appropriately, grabbing the fan and immediately directing it Lillian's way, using the mister every now and then to help cool her off. Thankfully, she's not as fussy. "It's working," he cheers, nearly wanting to cry because it feels like such a big relief that he finally calmed Lillian down enough to where she isn't moving erratically. 

"Why don't you put her back in her carrier? It's probably too hot for you to hold her, H." 

Harry shrugs, not minding Lillian in his lap now that he has a mini fan. "I miss holding her. It was a long week not being around her, and honestly, she starts to cry if she's not with either of us."

"She misses her daddies," Alexi says with a smile, reaching out to tickle the bottom of Lillian's foot. "So sweet," she whispers under her breath. 

Rightfully so, Harry thinks. Harry and Louis left shortly after the wedding to go on their honeymoon in Hawaii for a week, and then immediately upon coming back, the three of them had to jet off to Rio for the Olympics. The three of them have barely had any time to actually be together since Harry and Louis got married, and of course it's been gnawing at Harry since they left for the honeymoon because he knows Lillian truly does miss both her dads. England is playing in the championship game today against Germany so Harry is lucky enough that after this game, they'll finally get some peace and quiet to just enjoy being together, to enjoy that Harry and Louis are both married, to enjoy that they are a happy family. Fuck, Harry really cannot wait until this game is over. He's still in his honeymoon facade, and Harry cannot lie about how disappointed he was when he had to get on a flight back home to then turn around and get on a flight here. Harry just misses his wedding day truth be told, and he just misses Louis and Lillian and being in their own private bubble together. At least they haven't been bombarded by the press yet, so, hopefully, they can remain in this bubble for a little longer. 

"Her eyes are closing," Alexi notes after a moment, glancing up at Harry with a wink. 

Harry breathes out a sigh of relief. "Maybe I can put her in the carrier now and cool off myself. It's bloody hot today." Harry carefully moves Lillian off of his lap and places her inside the carrier that is resting in the seat next to him. She only stirs a little bit and makes a small noise in protest, but once Harry gets her tucked inside while holding the fan in her direction, she doesn't make another peep. Harry smiles as he runs his free fingers through Lily's hair, feeling such relief when his own body temp can now cool down without the weight of her keeping him heated. "You don't have another fan that you can direct towards me, do you?" 

Alexi giggles, shaking her head. "Sorry, mate. You should've bought some before you sat down." Harry huffs. "Text Louis' friend - Zayn? Didn't he say he was going up to get some drinks?"

"That's smart." Harry quickly pulls his phone out his back pocket as best as he can with his one hand and sends a message to Zayn to grab a couple fans for the group of them. He feels a little better when Zayn agrees without hesitation. 

"Daddy!"

Harry jolts when the sharp sound of Jackson's voice rings his ears before he sees that little boy jumping up to the railing, Wes running over to the sidelines and lifting him up in the air. "Hey, buddy," he greets. Alexi gets up as well and hugs Wes over the wall. 

"Hey, baby!" another voice says, Harry's head jolting in surprise at the sound. Harry smiles wide as he quickly stands to his feet, pulling Louis in a hug and curling his head into Louis' neck and pressing a kiss against his sweaty skin. "I see you got Lily to sleep," Louis notes once he pulls back, keeping a firm grip on Harry's arm as he nods his head to where Lillian is sleeping in her carrier.

Harry laughs. "It took me forever. She was heating up. _I am_ heating up." 

"You are pretty hot." Harry rolls his eyes. "She does look like you, you know?" 

Harry bites his bottom lip and looks at his daughter again, smiling when her pouty lips puff out tiny breathes of air. Harry sighs. "I think she looks like you." Harry trails his eyes back to Louis. "Win for us, Tomlinson, okay? We want to wear your name and new number proud." 

The seventeen that used to be on the back of Louis' jersey was traded for twenty-eight the second Louis knew the date of their wedding. The number now holds so much meaning to both he and Harry that he also got it tattoo on his left hand, keeping it forever inked on his skin. And when Louis does play, he keeps his wedding band closest to his heart, wearing it on a chain around his neck and keeping it perfectly kept inside of his shirt. And when Louis turns away to run back on the field, Harry feels his heart swelling with pride at the sight of Tomlinson and number twenty eight on the back of Louis' jersey, the same one that he is wearing on his own body. 

The game shortly begins after all the players return to the field. Since Louis is the captain of the England team, he joins the coach at the center of the field where he greets the referees for the game and the captain of Germany. Zayn ends up coming down a few minutes later with his drinks and then a full bag of fans with misters. He passes one over to Harry so he can cool himself down and hands another to Alexi and Jackson so they can use it as well. The heat continues to barrel on when the announcer begins the start of the game, England getting control of the ball first. 

It's a back and forth match of who gains possession of the football. Louis attempts the first shot that gets deflected by a Germany defender, now the ball under their control. The second attempt at a goal is from Germany themselves. They are able to weave their way past England's defenders to find an opening off to the side of the field. The wide open shot is a clear indicator that they have an opportunity to score first, but as the ball gets kicked into the top corner of the net, Liam uses all his might to swat it away, easily protecting the ball from entering the goal. England's side stands up to emit a loud roar of cheers, getting even louder and louder when Wes gets the ball kicked to him and he begins running it quickly down the opposite end of the field. At this, Jackson quickly stands to his feet, cheering loudly and clapping his hands, trying to get Alexi to show that much enthusiasm as well. Harry giggles at the two of them and glances over a Lillian, seeing that her eyes are beginning to open up due to the loud sounds that are constantly happening. Harry reaches over and pulls her onto his lap, having her face the field so that she can watch Wes pass the ball over to Louis. 

Within minutes of gaining possession, Louis takes another shot, this time, successfully kicking the ball past the goalie's fingers and hitting the back of the net. And as it turns out, this is the only goal that gets scored the rest of the game. So when the final seconds tick down on the buzzer, red and white confetti gets shot out of cannons and balloons get released into the sky. Everyone on the England side begins cheering loudly, and all the players on the field attack one another in big, congratulatory hugs. Harry holds Lillian against his hip and follows Zayn on the field so they can rush over to Liam and Louis who are hugging one another. Alexi and Jackson immediately seek out Wes, and then the next thing that happens, everyone is running out on to the field to join in on the celebration. In the midst of all the people, Louis seeks out Harry, catching his eyes and widening his smile once the two of them start to mindlessly walk towards one another. 

Zayn quickly takes Lillian out of Harry's arms when he all but shoves her in his hold. Harry then takes off in a light jog over to Louis and jumps into his arms to give him a bone crushing hug, wrapping his legs around Louis' waist, pressing kiss after kiss against the side of his face before finding his lips for a proper kiss. Louis' arms hold on to Harry's waist tightly as he spins the two of them around in a circle, laughing and crying before Louis is setting Harry back on his feet. 

"Congrats, Tomlinson. You did us proud," Harry cheers, nibbling on his bottom lip as he reaches to wipe Louis' sweaty fringe off his forehead. 

Louis smiles as he grabs a hold of Lillian from Zayn, hugging her in close when she starts to cackle. "You know I always win for you, baby."

"Well, we're both proud of you." Harry tucks himself into Louis' side and reaches to twirl Lillian's hair, smiling at the picture perfect image he knows the three of them make, all cuddled together with the celebration of the win surrounding them. 

"Well, I love the both of you," Louis admits as he presses a kiss to Harry's forehead before he presses a kiss to Lillian's cheek. "And I love my little family." 

Harry smiles and turns himself into Louis' chest so he can give Louis a proper hug, tucking himself underneath Louis' chin and sighing happily when Louis' arm goes around his waist. 

"I love our family, too," Harry repeats dreamily, blinking up at Lillian to see her wide smile and shimmering blue eyes looking up at the confetti.

Yeah, Harry absolutely loves it all.

//

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**HarryTomlinson:** Celebrations with daddy ! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is fairly shorter as opposed to the others, but there's not much to go with this story. Stay tuned for the final chapter.


	46. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here we go. This is the last chapter of the story, and I'm so sad that this has come to an end, but I am more than happy to officially put this all to rest. I hope everyone enjoyed the plot and enjoyed the crazy journey this story brought. I hope this is a good way to end it. 
> 
> P.S. there is a time jump in this chapter and lots of Instagram posts (:

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**LouisTomlinson:** my three babies. x

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 **HarryTomlinson commented:** We all love you xxx

//

**I N S T A G R A M**

****

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**HarryTomlinson:** Jayson Mark Tomlinson x

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** Daddies heart breaker 

//

"Jayson Mark Tomlinson," Harry yells in annoyance, running up the stands right as he sees his _child_ tripping over his feet and falling to the ground. Harry lets out a groan and tilts his head to the sky, wondering why on earth he decided to have more children with Louis. Of course, when Harry looks back at his son and sees the goofy cackle that comes out of him, he definitely is glad he had more. "Little boy, I am not in the mood for you to break a bone, okay?" Jayson's bright eyes glance up at Harry as he continues to smile. He lifts his arms up and makes grabby hands next in indication that he wants to get picked up. Harry rolls his eyes and approaches him, easily complying to his son and holding him. Harry kisses his cheek once he has Jayson resting against his hip. 

It's a bright day today for Harry and Louis' family to gather at the stadium for Lillian's first game. Through all the sports that she has tried within the past couple of months, her favorite had to be football, just like her daddy. It's her first game of the season, and like a good family, all her favorite aunts and grandparents had shown up for the occasion wearing a custom made jersey with her name and number on the back. Luckily, Lillian's jersey matches Louis' jersey, and every time Harry sees Lily and Louis next to one another with their numbers on the back, he feels his heart melt. Harry absolutely adores Louis and Lillian's relationship, and he loves that Louis takes the time from Chelsea practices and games to be the head coach for their daughter's little league team. It really is a good life they have been living, and now that they have another one, who is a literal ball of energy, it just couldn't get any better. Harry loves his babies, and he loves his husband, and he loves that he has both their families in the stands right now just watching him struggle with his crazy child. 

"Papa, Papa." 

Harry lets out a sigh as he glances at Jayson, lifting his brows. "What, baby?" 

Jayson bites his lip and continues to point until Harry actually walks over to where he's pointing at. There's a small vine that has managed to weave its way up the stands and get intertwined with the fence. There's a bright, yellow daisy that had apparently caught Jayson's attention so Harry quickly walks over to it and plucks it off the vine, smiling as he goes to put it behind Jayson's ear. In return, a wide, goofy smile makes its way across Jayson's lips, and he turns into a fit of giggles. Harry smiles as he continues to watch how amused Jayson is now that there is a flower in behind his ear, wondering what the heck goes on in his son's head at times. In ways, it reminds him of Louis. A lot of Jayson reminds Harry of Louis, and he absolutely adores that their son is an exact replica of him. When Lillian got older, Harry was finally able to admit that she was nearly his twin, especially when the blue eyes started to turn green and her straight fringe turned curly. With Jayson, he has everything that is Louis - his button nose, and his cerulean blue eyes. He also has the energy of Louis, or so, that's what Jay likes to say when she reminisces Louis as a toddler - apparently, Louis was just as bad and crazy, and honestly, Harry can see it in the way Jayson acts all the time. 

Harry can say he remembers the day he found out he was pregnant with Jayson so vividly. This time around, he wasn't as scared - timid - as he was when he discovered his pregnancy with Lillian. When Harry saw the first signs appearing - like the morning sickness, the cramping, little bit of spotting - basically everything he had with his first pregnancy, he couldn't wait to jump Louis' bones to tell him the news. It wasn't like either of them fully expected Harry to get pregnant again. Dr. Walls informed them that after Lillian, his chances would be a lot lower so when he peed on a stick that resulted in a positive, Harry and Louis cried in each other's arms. It really was a true miracle when Jayson Mark Tomlinson entered this world, and truthfully, Harry can say he absolutely adores his family. He's happy with where he is at in his life and having mini versions of himself and Louis running around the world.

Harry does like to deem himself as the fun, slightly carefree parent, and maybe that has to do with the fact that he wants to be the favorite parent out of the two of them, but it's true. Harry might let the little ones stay awake an hour longer, or sometimes sneak them a bowl of ice cream after dinner, but he only does it because he loves the look on their face when Harry treats them to something good. The way their eyes light up, and the way they give Harry a million hugs and kisses afterwards, it's enough of an incitive for Harry to continue spoiling them. Louis does do better at the discipline and having to set things straight. He's more careful and responsible, and even though Harry does have a bad influence over him at times where he catches Louis sneaking some treats to their babies, Louis has always been the better one at setting his foot down. It probably helps that he has four younger sisters he assisted in raising, so that responsibility trait has always been there with him. Ultimately, Harry and Louis work good together as parents, and he's glad that they are opposite in ways that also makes them the same. 

"Papa, a flower," Jayson finally says once his giggles calm down a little bit, wondrous eyes glancing up as he touches the delicate petals. "Bellow." 

Harry giggles, pressing a kiss to Jay's forehead. "It's yellow - a yellow flower, bub."

Harry hugs Jayson closer to his chest and walks back over to the stands where he sees the rest of his family already sitting. Harry walks up to join them and easily hands his son off to the first willing hands that want to grab him, which happens to be Lottie, and then reaches for his bag that he asked his mother to hold on to. He begins rummaging inside until he finds his camera perfectly tucked inside so he can bring it out and begin taking pictures of Louis coaching and their daughter playing. He's so excited to do this.

It takes a couple of minutes before both the teams are running out onto the field. The second their clan spots Louis and Lillian, they all stand and cheer very loudly. Harry has a bright smile on his face as he starts taking picture after picture, getting Louis waving to the crowd and Lillian trying to shy away from all the attention. It's crazy how much Lillian is like Harry. After everyone makes it on the field and begins their warm up, Harry sets his camera down on his lap and sees that Louis is walking up the fence, gaining Harry's attention to call him over. Harry smiles and quickly stands to his feet, jogging down the stands and stepping off to the side so he can speak to Louis privately.

"Hey, Coach," Harry greets, giggling, leaning over to press a kiss to Louis' lips. "How's our bean doing?" 

Louis shrugs, reaching out to hold on to Harry's arm, letting his fingers trail down until he gets Harry's hand locked in his own. He then brings their hands up to his mouth so he can press a light kiss to Harry's knuckles. "She is nervous, but she is very happy that her family is here." Louis' eyes glance towards the stands, narrowing when he suddenly sees Jayson jumping on the stands. "Did you give my boy sugar this morning?" 

Harry scoffs, offended. "I gave him nothing. He is just naturally crazy - naturally _you_. I've been chasing him around the bloody park for twenty minutes before he finally tripped over his feet. How did your mother handle you?" 

"She did fine," Louis smirks. Harry rolls his eyes, turning his back against the fence so he can look up at the stands as well, smiling when he feels Louis leaning against his backside with Louis' arms go around his middle. Harry sighs as he holds on to him, leaning further into Louis' chest. "He is a little crazy one, huh? How did we go from calm Lillian to wild man Jayson?" 

Harry snorts, curling his head into Louis' neck. "I love them both. We did good." 

"We did do good." 

They get a few seconds of peace where they rest in each other arms before a crazy toddler starts running down the stands to seek out his daddies. Harry starts laughing as he retracts himself from Louis' arms so he can bend down to pick up Jayson. Once Harry gets a hold of him, he turns to face Louis, an unamused look on his face. "He won't stop running around." 

"Daddy!" Jayson cheers excitedly. 

"Hi, crazy man," Louis greets, leaning over the fence railing so he can kiss the top of Jayson's head. He gets momentarily distracted when he feels a faint tug at the bottom of his shorts, eyes glancing down to see that Lillian has now joined the group. 

"Daddy," she says faintly, slightly nervous. 

Louis shares a brief look with Harry before he's crouching down to her level, reaching out to caress the side of her face. "What's the matter, Lily Bean? First game jitters?" There's a pout on Lillian's face when she nods, green eyes starting to glisten in tears. "Oh, no, baby girl, come here. Give daddy a cuddle." Lillian goes with ease as Louis pulls her into a hug, letting out a coo as he rest his head on top of Lillian's, making sure he holds on to her tight. "You know, only certain people get these kind of cuddles on game day. They're very special." 

Lillian blinks as she pulls up, seemingly interested. "Why?" 

"They are good luck cuddles," Louis explains, quickly glancing at Harry and seeing him smile. Louis winks and goes back to Lillian. "Only special ones get them, and when you do get these kind of cuddles, you know that you're going to have the best game ever. It's the biggest secret to any game."

"Who gives you good luck cuddles, daddy?" 

Louis responds by flickering his eyes up at Harry, smiling when Lillian's eyes follow. 

"Papa does?" She questions in mere awe, gasping when Louis nods his head. "I want to be good like you," Lillian then whispers, like it's a secret, now focusing back at Louis. "I want to be the star." 

Louis lets out a sigh as he stands back up, tilting his head towards Harry. "Looks like you need good luck cuddles from a special someone then. He gives me one before every game, and he's the reason why I can be a star out there." Louis bends down to pick Lillian up, turning to face Harry. "Ready for Papa's cuddles?" 

"Yes, yes! I want Papa's special cuddles," Lillian cheers as Louis hands her over to Harry, laughing when Harry grunts at the impact of holding both children in his arms. 

"It's a good thing you both are tiny," Harry teases, attempting to hug them both tightly. "Alright, Lily Bean, now you can be a star." Harry carefully gives Lillian back to Louis so he can put her down on the side of the fence where the field is. Once Lillian is back on her feet, she grabs a hold of Louis' hand and starts dragging him over to where her team is gathering up on the sidelines, the game effectively minutes away from starting. "Good luck, sweethearts," Harry calls out, getting Jayson situated correctly in his arms so he doesn't have a chance to run away. 

"Thanks, baby," Louis responds with a laugh. 

Harry shakes his head, fond, and walks back over to the stands so he can join the family again. He wants to make sure he has his full attention on the field and take all the pictures that he can capture now that Lillian's first ever football game is starting. It's the best moment he gets to share with his family gathered around and his son cuddled into his side. It makes the moment even better when Harry gets the perfect shot of Lillian scoring her first ever goal in the game and sharing the celebration with her daddy, bringing true tears to Harrys eyes because it's such a picture perfect moment that he gets to have forever, and he's so fucking happy that this is now the life that he's living. 

Harry's little girl just scored her first ever goal. What more could he possibly ask for?

//

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**HarryTomlinson:** Daddy's little star x

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 **LouisTomlinson commented:** only because you give the best cuddles baby x (;

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** Unbreakable bond. 

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 **HarryTomlinson:** My Lilly Bean xxx

//

It's a sharp, loud sound. The sound of an echoing wail that rings through the ears of Harry. It sounds dreadful, and terrible, and in this moment, Harry is wondering why the hell he ever had children. The crying continues, and continues, and Harry feels like he's gaining a pounding headache from the way the loud cackle of the sob shakes his brain. Harry groans in annoyance as he aggressively grabs the pillow so he can shove it over his face, doing whatever he can to limit the noise as best as possible. Unfortunately, it doesn't help, and Harry can still hear his child crying in the bright early of the morning. 

Reluctantly, Harry tosses the pillow off his face, tilting his head to the side to see if Louis is having the same dread he is, but when Harry's eyes land on the empty spot next to him, he frowns. Harry sighs as he finally pulls the covers off so he can sit up on the bed and actually make the move to get himself ready for the day. He changes out of his pants into a loose jumper and some sweats, putting slippers on his feet and finally getting out of the bedroom. Harry strolls his way across the hall where he knows his crying baby is at, rubbing at his eyes, yawning, trying to do his best to get himself fully awake and aware for what he's about to walk in to. 

Right as Harry reaches Jayson's door, he hears the soft murmur of Louis' voice, quiet and gentle, doing his best at shushing Jayson from being too loud. 

"Jay Bug, if you keep going at it, you'll wake up papa." 

Harry rolls his eyes and pushes the door further open, leaning against the doorway and making his appearance known by clearing his throat. He's slightly amused when he sees Lillian sitting on top of Jayson's bed brushing her doll's hair while Louis has their son pinned to the ground trying to get him dressed. It's crazy. 

"Papa is already awake," Harry says with a smile, shaking his head, fond. 

Louis glances up at Harry with an apologetic smile in return before Jayson is wiggling his way out of Louis' hold. "Papa!" he screams in excitement, jumping up to his feet and rushing over towards Harry. Harry sighs as he picks him up, cuddling him in close against his chest. 

"Sorry, baby. Jayson didn't want to get dressed this morning," Louis apologizes. He stands up as well and walks over to join Lillian on the bed, running his fingers through her fringe and smiling when she looks up at him with her bright, green eyes. "I didn't mean for you to wake." 

Harry shrugs. "It's okay. I don't mind my babies waking me up early today." 

"Papa, I wasn't loud," Lillian protests with a pout, dropping the doll in her lap. "I was quiet." 

Louis giggles under his breath as he leans to press a kiss to the top of her head. 

"You're right," Harry agrees, winking, walking into the room as well and going to sit on the other side of her, moving so Jayson can properly sit on his lap. At least his son was calm enough to have a fresh diaper on - clothes aren't too important this early, Harry thinks. "It was all Jay bug. He just wants to be naked all the time, huh?" 

Jayson starts giggling when Harry pretends to nibble on his cheek. 

"Dada, we were trying to surprise you," Lillian then continues, turning to look at Louis for approval. Louis smiles and gives her an encouraging nod, Harry eyeballing the both of them suspiciously. 

"What surprise?" Harry wonders. 

"Food!" Jayson cheers out loudly. Harry raises an eyebrow, looking at Louis for an answer.

Lillian immediately leans over Harry so she can cover Jayson's mouth. "Jay, don't spoil it. It's surprise." 

"What surprise?" Harry questions with a laugh, gently prying Lillian's hand off of Jayson. "You all have me curious now."

This time, Lillian hops off the bed. "Follow me, dada." 

Harry glances at Louis and narrows his eyes at him briefly before standing up as well. He continues to hold Jayson against his hip while following the lead of Lillian, seeing her tiny, little body heading over towards the dining area. Louis follows behind Harry, a hand resting on his lower back so he can be close for when the surprise is revealed. Once they make it to the dining table, Harry pauses, gasping in awe when he sees it perfectly decorated with balloons tied to the chairs, a clutter of Lily petals spread across the table, and four plates of breakfast that has smiley face pancakes and bacon. Harry covers his mouth and giggles, just fucking giggles because what a nice surprise this is to walk in to. 

"Happy Anniversary, baby," Louis ends up whispering against Harry's ear, smiling as he presses a kiss on the underside of Harry's jaw. 

"Daddy says it's a special day today," Lillian announces. Her bright green eyes glance back and forth between Louis and Harry with a wide smile on her face. She eagerly goes to her chair and takes a seat so she can show off her greatest creation. "We made pancakes for you. They are happy because you are happy." 

Harry bites his lip, blinking when tears spring to his eyes. "This is lovely," he breathes out, turning to face Louis, softening up the minute he sees his warm blue eyes staring back at him. "You made me breakfast?" 

"Of course we did. You know I love to spoil you." 

Harry's heart melts in response. 

"Daddy, let's eat," Lillian then calls out, already taking a bite of her bacon and not bothering to wait for her daddies to join at the table. 

Harry giggles and moves to put Jayson in his high chair, reaching for his plate and grabbing the little pancake and small piece of bacon to put on his table. Once Jayson is settled, Harry walks over to take his seat next Lillian, eyes following Louis until he's sitting down as well. Harry smiles at him and reaches out to grab his hand, squeezing it. 

"The happy faces were Daddy's idea," Lillian continues, moving around the blueberry eyes so that she can make her pancake have a silly face. She giggles when the pancake looks cross eyed. "He let me decorate it, though." 

"It's beautiful, Lily Bean. I really like the surprise." 

Harry continues to have the widest smile on his face as he eats the breakfast his daughter and husband surprised him with. It's perfectly silent and peaceful while they enjoy their meals, Harry and Louis exchanging looks every now and then, Lillian off in her own little world creating all the craziest face she can make with her blueberries, strawberries and bacon pieces. It's quite amusing every time she shows both her daddies the different faces she can make, her giggles getting louder and louder each time she comes up with something creative. Eventually, she does take a big bite out of her pancake, now eating her food rather than playing with it. It earns her some extra whip cream on the side of her plate, Harry, of course, being the one to grant her this little treat. Jayson, on the other hand, creates more of a hassle. He kicks his feet in the high chair he's sitting in, playing with his food and making a mess of it on the floor. He only nibbles a little bit on the edge of the pancake, and then he starts complaining that he wants to go play with his toys. Toddlers really can be something else. 

"Jay Bug, if you eat your piece of bacon and two more bites of the pancake, I'll let you play with toys, okay?" Louis reasons with after a moment, both he and Harry tired of listening to Jayson keep complaining about how he's _in fact_ not hungry. 

He hasn't eaten since dinner the night before. 

"I'll give you some whip cream," Harry adds for good measure, smiling, reaching over to spray a good amount on top of Jayson's pancake. 

Jayson giggles and sticks his finger in the whip before he's smearing it across his lips. Lillian grimaces. "Dada, he's messy. Why boys are messy?" 

Louis snorts as he tickles Lillian's side. "You were messy too when you were his age." 

Lillian shakes her head because she refuses to believe she was ever as messy as her little brother. 

"Soooo," Louis draws out with a light tilt to his voice, leaning back into his chair and resting his hands on top of his belly, smirking at Harry. "What do you two little bugs think about having a sleep over?" 

Jayson seems unbothered, still playing with his whip. Lillian, on the other hand, perks up, her eyes brightening. "Sleep over with who?" 

Harry tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at Louis. "Yeah, who?" he questions as well, a growing smirk stretching his own lips. He likes where this is going. 

"I think all your aunties want to have a sleep over at Gem-Gem's place tonight. They asked that they're favorite niece and nephew join." 

Lillian gasps in excitement. "I love sleep overs. DeeDee and PhePhe can paint my nails." 

"No, I no wanna," Jayson finally comments, whining, pouting, huffing in what appears to be annoyance. 

Louis raises his eyebrow and turns to Jayson, reaching over to grab his arm. "What's wrong with them?" 

"They girls." 

Harry giggles, shaking his head. He swears his son is something else. 

"But they love you," Louis reasons with. "Plus, me and your daddy need some quiet time later. It's our special day, remember? I told you that I was going to surprise him with something awesome and that you were going to help by being with your aunties." 

Realization seems to dawn on Jayson, and Louis gives a good enough excuse for him to be on board again. "Is for papa?" 

"It is for papa," Louis agrees with a softening smile. 

"Louis William Tomlinson," Harry scolds after a moment, not liking that his husband has been plotting with their children about what he plans for the day. Harry remembers that they both agreed to keep this anniversary more mellow, planning on spending it with their children and potentially going to a nice dinner all together. The two of them have been married for six years now, and right when Harry thinks Louis is no longer full of surprises, Louis always ends up thinking of something quickly. "What do you have planned? I thought we agreed to not do much this year."

Louis glances at Harry and winks. "Harry, you should know by now that I _live_ to spoil you. It's been nearly a decade, love." 

Harry rolls his eyes, a smile on his face. He's so endeared.

"Daddy has another surprise, too," Lillian casually comments. "He has lots of flowers for you." 

"Louis!" Harry nearly shrieks, giggling, turning to glance at Louis with wide eyes. "Please don't tell me ... " 

"I got you three thousand six hundred and fifty flowers," Louis completes for him, sounding very smug and very proud. 

Harry laughs. "What are we going to do with all those flowers, Lou?" 

"We make a garden, dada," Lillian cheers. 

Harry sighs, glancing at her. "We don't have a garden, Lily Bean." There's a small silence that lingers after Harry makes the comment, one that has Harry's eyes slightly widening in Louis' direction. "Louis?" he questions slowly, heart now thrumming in his chest. " _Do we_ have a garden?"

"So, that might be my surprise for you." 

"A garden?" Harry shrieks. 

"Happy varisary daddy!" Lillian squeals in excitement. 

Louis snorts as he pets at her head. "Anniversary, baby," he corrects gently. 

"Where's the garden at?" Harry questions eagerly, more interested in this piece of matter rather than how accurately his daughter can pronounce anniversary or not. 

"I guess we'll just have to wait an see," Louis answers with a wink, leaving the response as that. 

//

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**LouisTomlinson:** My crazy man. 

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 **HarryTomlinson commented:** My favorite boys xxx

//

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//

Harry and Louis are able to sneak away from the children after dropping them off at Gemma's place. The promise that they are not doing much this anniversary still entails, but Harry, for some reason, cannot make Louis crack on what exactly he has secretly planned. For starters, Harry has yet to see the three thousand six hundred and fifty flowers that Lillian blurted out to him at breakfast, and when Harry started looking at places for them to eat dinner, Louis informed that there was no need for him to look. Now, Harry is in the passenger seat of the car, anxiously waiting to see what exactly Louis is keeping from him. He figures after ten years of being together Louis will run dry of spontaneous ideas, but of course, Louis always surprises him, each and every year. Even when they both swear to nothing too extravagant or nothing too expensive for gifts, Louis always breaks his promises and goes against his words. Harry really can't complain though because he does the same as well, but he only breaks the rules because he knows Louis won't follow them as well. 

After about twenty minutes of driving, Louis turns down a dirt road, one that has Harry's interest peaking almost instantly. 

"Louis?" he questions with a growing smile, sitting up in his seat and glancing at Louis with a bite to his lip. "Are you taking me ... ?" 

"To the place we first kissed?' Louis answers with a smirk. "To the place we first had sex? To the place I proposed to you at? Yes, I definitely am." 

"Is this where the garden is?" 

Louis nods his head, now turning into the open area that once used to be where the drive in was. Now, the place is shut down, just an empty lot with lots of grass patches and run down theatre screens. However, there's an area off to the side, the spot where Louis used to always park his truck, that has a small garden, a bunch of different flowers planted in to the ground along with some other plants that Harry cannot make of. There are tears in Harry's eyes once they finally park next to the garden and he steps out, letting out a heavy breath as he looks around the area. Harry notices that there is some reconstruction going on, and part of him wonders if the drive in is being bought by another company and potentially turning into something else while another part of him wonders if this has anything to do with Louis. 

"I bought the lot." 

And, well, that answers Harry's question. 

"You bought the place?" Harry laughs.

"I bought the place," Louis repeats confidently, walking up to Harry and grabbing on to his hands. "I bought the place for us to renovate. We can turn this into some botanical garden - put fairy lights up - have lots of flowers and bushes and beautiful things. Maybe some fountains. We can use the screens to play some peaceful remedies or some shit like that, but I just thought it could be something nice for us to do. I didn't want this place to go to shit when we have so many fond memories here. It's one of our love places." 

Harry lets out a heavy breath when he realizes all of his emotions are now overwhelming him. He laughs when more tears are springing to his eyes, and when he looks around the whole place to take in the vision that Louis has, he can see it. He can see himself turning this place into a wonderful garden, filled with lots of flowers and bushes, something he can take lots of pictures at and just see some of his favorite things come to life over time. Gosh, this is just the perfect thing Louis has ever come up with, and Harry loves that he gets to create this field of beauty in the place that holds so much meaning to him and Louis. 

"I love it," Harry says breathless, pulling Harry into a tight hug and laughing wetly into his neck. "I love you," he then says in a softer tone. 

"I love you, too Harry." Louis kisses along the curve or Harry's jaw, smirking as he adds, "I also brought some blankets." 

Harry pulls back with a laugh and immediately drags Louis back to the car.

After ten years of being together, Harry doesn't think it can get any better than this. Their love is at the maximum peak, and it only seems to grow each day with all that they do for each other. The once sixteen year old boy that used to reside in Harry is no longer there. All the doubts and the insecurity is now swept away with love and happiness and confidence. Now, after ten years of being with Louis, Harry can truthfully say that he is no longer just a boy with a camera. He's a boy with meaning. He's a boy with happiness. He's a boy with a husband and two lovely children. He's a boy who is happy beyond words, and more importantly, he's a boy with a life that is picture perfect.

Because in this moment, right here, right now, Harry genuinely believes that he is constantly living in these picture perfect moments. 

//

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say a massive thank you to all those that read this story and left such lovely comments. This story was like my baby such a long time ago, and it's one I always keep coming back to. I wanted to make this story as perfect as I could, and I really hope I did. I loved the journey of it, and I loved going back through it and just making certain aspects to it better. Again, thank you to every one. 
> 
> Check out my other stories as well. I like to branch out in different categories, and I do have a couple new potential stories that are in the makes. Look me up on here or on Wattpad (: Can't wait for you guys to read more.


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